Quote:
Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr
I dealt with this for 20+yrs. Not skunks, but ‘coons and ‘possums.
|
The episode with the skunk occurred while renting a manufactured home from my employing agency. There was the typical aluminum skirting around the axles but something kept wedging its way between two of the panels. The office had warned me they'd seen and smelt a skunk in the immediate vicinity off and on, so to use caution if strolling around after dark.
I began hearing scrabbling noises underneath the floors and the wall furnace usually seemed to have a distinctive miasma floating around it. One morning getting ready for work I was standing at the bathroom sink and heard a scuffling at the floor register. Glanced over just in time to see a black nose and two beady eyes staring at me through the vent grate. I stomped. They promptly disappeared. A few days later I watched a skunk roll across the deck bold as brass. No wonder the gas bills were so high. There must be a huge gaping hole in the ductwork to allow such a portly creature to squeeze into it.
Another morning I heard caterwauling and screaming under the home, racing paws/claws, and then a palpable cloud of stink rose up through all the floor vents. It was almost visible; so bad I threw on some clothes, grabbed my pet bird, opened all the windows, and left. Returned at the end of the workday to find everything I owned saturated with skunk. Clothes, food, bedding, everything. Spent a couple of days with a co-worker while letting the place air out. When I finally returned I was determined to get rid of the source. Set up several Hav-a-heart traps baited with canned sardines around the home, blocked the gap in the skirting with another (trap inside a heavy duty garbage bag), and waited. Once again, the skunk strolled across the deck, even putting his front paws on the window and staring at me.
I'd had enough. Jumped off the couch, grabbed a broom, and went after it. The skunk ran off with me in hot pursuit. It ducked into the first shelter it came across which happened to be one of the Hav-a-hearts. It trapped itself. I threw a tarp over the trap, hooked a shovel through the handle, threw it into the bed of my work truck, and drove the roughest road I could find to the other end of the management area we were located on. The skunk wouldn't come out of the trap until I started beating the top with my shovel. It never threatened me or tried to squirt. It bolted (as much as an overfed skunk can bolt) and disappeared.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you ever get the chance (I've looked on YT and can't find it) see Rich Hall's bit about his meeting with the guy who removed prairie dogs with a big vacuum truck (like used for cleaning parking lots). He sticks the hose down the hole, tells how many he thinks are in it, turns the vac on and you hear "thuck. thuck. THUCK!" Rich asks if it hurts them, the guy goes "Nah, just a little brain damage." "So what do you do with them?" "I let 'em out across the river, wait a week and then respond to the calls for removal from over there." WIth Rich's deadpan delivery, it is hilarious.
