Last night was supposed to be my last night of sleep depravation regarding the skunk issue. I left food on the ground at 9:00 p.m. just to be sure I didn’t miss a baby in this round-up of sorts.
I went out at 11:00 to discover, there was not one baby feeding but two! I quickly set the traps thinking that if this was just Mike and I in the middle of the boonies living with no neighbors- we’d just let these animals alone.That’s sadly not the case though.
Something inside told me to bait up four traps, so I did. It is now 5:00 a.m. and there are four more babies trapped and in the shop covered with tarps! How in the world could we have 18 skunks and NOT know it? These trapped ones, I think there are three adults and one baby. Hard to tell in the dark and ducking skunk spray! I know that there were times in the past when I wondered how the babies got so quickly from the feeding station to under the house. After all, skunks are not cheetahs when it comes to speed. I just figured, since they are excellent burrowers that they had elaborate tunnels they were using. I didn’t have a clue that we had more than 10 skunks here. 🙁
Hokey smokes, that’s a lot of skunks! Good luck!
Please make sure that you are not drawing in brand new skunks from the forest to get that food you are leaving out to try to catch the old ones. I believe I would cut off all food now, and sit back a couple of days to see how things sort out. It would be a shame to kill new “non- habitual” feeders.
They are multiplying. This undoubtedly came as an unwelcome surprise.
I think I might have figured it out. If they work along the same lines as stray and feral cats do, when you start to feed one outside cat, more will come. It is not just the food that is bringing them in, but the pee mail that the cats are leaving on the bushes and structures on the property. This is their form of telegraphing to each other various messages.
For the Toms, it could be a warning to stay away because he is Alpha, or during mating season, he could spray that he is waiting for his mate. They can even spray a certain scent that tells the other cats waiting in the shadows that they can eat here without being harmed. Perhaps the skunks work on something of the same level, but they don’t just use their pee, but their anal glands as well. And that scent can carry a lot longer than a strong pee odor can.
So no more night feedings- no more food on the ground- I just told my neighbor that I am done. I am not killing anymore skunks. I have gone above and beyond and taken care of all the skunks that were here before. If they are newcomers or babies looking to start new territories, they will move on in time. I can’t stop them from grubbing and eating the bugs, but I don’t have to provide an all you can eat midnight buffet!
Last night a huge male was caught along with three babies- one really tiny baby at that. No way was that tiny one part of the original family.
Just wanted to say that last night, I was up all night and only saw one baby skunk. It did not hang around long- no food to be found for skunks here any longer.