dispatching skunks

[fishdoggydog]

I used to run a pretty long line of fox traps back in the 70's. I caught 6 skunks in one day, a double on skunks that day. I had an old single shot .22 rifle and would put a .22 short into the lungs. I was always in a hurry, all week trapping in the dark before work, and left them sit a day. Most did not spray, they did if you hit the front leg. I also trapped two skunks in a 220 conibear set in a coon trail once. I looked into the marsh grass and thought what a huge skunk I had, but the one in front was caught across the hips and still alive when I picked up the trap and saw it was two skunks. I smelled kind of ripe most of November back then.

[multibeard]

Years ago there was a guy selling skunk killing kits. It was a couple of metal pieces that held a syringe on the end of a 1/1 stick. You filled the syringe with metelethelkeytone. Aka acetone. You would slowly approach a skunk and place the needle against the ribs of the skunk and slowly inject it with the acetone. After a few minutes the skunk would go to sleep. You then placed the skunks head in a pan of water to drown it.

My buddies that used it said it worked real good. One day they stopped at a gas station where they had girls that pumped gas. When the gal saw a few striped kitties in the back of the station wagon she would not pump them any gas.

One day I shot a skunk from up wind and it sprayed. When I stopped to get gas after changing my clothes I reached down to pet the station owners lab that had always was friendly. I almost lost my hand as he tried to bite me. I do not know what he had against skunks but I could never pet the dog again.