In article , dps
wrote:

Frank Logullo wrote:
.... I understand now that skunks do not spray when confined but
I would not take chance of transporting when in trap.
Frank






I wouldn't bother relocating skunks. They don't bother your vegetables
or flowers and if they dig up your lawn it means you have grubs so
they're doing you a favor. The lawn will recover from small holes better
than it will recover from grubs.

That's the best advice. Relocating a skunk often results in its death in
an unfamiliar & "already taken" territory, plus two or three skunks or a
racoon will start competing for the vacated territory so a gardener with
an ideal skunk habitat will soon have multiple skunks instead of just one
with an established territory of its own. If trapped spring or summer,
there may well be a litter of kits that will die when the mother never
returns. In my state it is entirely illegal to live-trap & relocate wild
animals because it causes more problems than it resolves. Many other
states have similar laws & a few states allow it only with a relocation
permit, which is hard to get unless you can prove you know what you're
doing.

Skunks are innocuous in gardens, not apt to spray unless cornered &
threatened with nowhere to run, will not spray in conditions that cause
them to spray themselves, will not spray if physically picked up expertly
(forcing their tail under their butt). They eat insects primarily, & if
they dig conical holes in the lawn, they've kindly informed the homeowner
that the lawn is harmfully infested. Up to two-thirds of a skunk's diet
will be insects harmful to humans or gardens. They have been known
occasionally to tear the hell out of a sunflower garden to get the oily
seeds, but being incapable of climbing would be more apt to look for oily
seeds on the ground under birdfeeders.

One somewhat realistic fear is that a dog will corner it, which means only
you will need to keep a recipe nearby so the dog can be effectively
cleaned (a dash of liquid soap & a fourth-cup of baking soda in a quart of
3% hydrogen peroxide is what it will take). No permanent injury is done by
skunk scent, & it is exceedingly rare that a dog ever harrasses a skunk a
second time. An "appropriate habitat" for a skunk has no dog in it, so
the skunk will only rarely settle into an area that is a dog's territory,
though if predictable amounts of dogfood are put outdoors daily for a dog,
a brave skunk may take its chances to share in the kibble.

It is rare that skunks spray people because skunks give several warnings
beforehand: they make a cute little growling sound as they stamp the
ground with their forelimbs, fluff out their tail & turn sideways to make
themselves look as big as possible, stand on their hind legs & wave their
wee clawed hands, & spit like a cat. These behaviors give the human or
predator two or three warnings to come no nearer, as skunks do not like to
spray because they dislike the odor themselves, & don't want to muck up
areas they hunt in or live in. Humans usually know to back away. Only
really stupid humans, or dogs having their first such encounter, will next
have the amusing pleasure of seeing the skunk drop its tail over its own
face & do a sudden handstand, squirting six to ten feet with surprising
accuracy right in the face.

Skunks are very mellow creatures & never attack, but if a skunk is
behaving strangely, aggressively, or wandering about in the daylight
hours, it could well be diseased. So the second realistic worry would be
in regions where skunks are known to carry rabies or distemper, in which
case one of the most dangerous things anyone could do is catch one in a
live trap. In most states, rabies & distemper are NOT a problem with
skunks or racoons, but wherever such disease outbreaks are occurring, it
is important to avoid skunks & racoons.

Skunks don't hang around long in one yard unless it really is an ideal
skunk habitat, & there are several ways to keep skunks from regarding
one's yard as ideal. Skunk attractants are availability of food including
fallen fruits, infested lawns, accessibility of petfood, accessibility of
garbage. They'll knock your yard off their food-hunting route if lawn
infestation or other food resources are removed from the equation. Skunks
prefer their den to be a considerable distance from their food-hunting
grounds, so usually they EITHER hunt food in the lawn & garden by night,
OR live in the woodpile or under the shed by day, but don't den & hunt in
the same place. Suitable daylight hiding places for a den include openings
to get under porch, house, trailor, or shed, dense brush or briars,
woodpiles or rockpiles, or fallen trees. They rarely hunt food where
there's a dog outdoors by day, & rarely den where there's a dog outdoors
at night.

As a kid, I used to care for & sell domesticated skunks, & as a result I
was once brought a litter of wild baby skunks whose mother had been
killed. For the first fifteen minutes of playing with the wild babies,
they could be induced to do handstands & pretend to spray, but were not
old enough to spray. After that first fifteen minutes, they figured out
they were in no danger, & were instantly tame, & no amount of teasing
would ever again induce them to take a threatening posture. They make
excellent pets if neutered & descented (without spaying or neutering they
become territorial when they grow up & make displays against visiting
strangers & may bite), but unfortunately the state I live in banned them
as pets due to a rabies scare 25 years ago that induced absurd legislative
action which has never been repaired.

Most of today's pet skunk farms are in southern states, with domestic
strains including albinos or strains with their stripe so wide they are
mostly white. The spotted skunk is smarter & livelier than the striped, &
just as sweet in captivity but more mischievous because unlike the clumsy
striped skunk the lithe spotted is a fairly good climber with a great deal
of curiosity about cabinets & whatever else they can get in. When we
bought the house we talked about getting a couple of skunks from a
southern breeder, because I especially love spotted skunks, one of the
sweetest cleverest animals I ever cared for. But we decided it wasn't
worth the risk that comes about due to public ignorance about skunks, the
risk of having pets taken from us & destroyed if some neighbor became
scared they had rabies. People who have pet skunks in Washington or pet
ferrets in California have to be secretive about it.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
Visit the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com