I have disposed of a couple of nocturnal coons with a big
Havahart trap. I live in the city , but by a railroad track with a
variety of wildlife. I'd never thought about what I'd do if I caught a
skunk in the thing until I saw one in the yard one morning. What a
mess that could be.

H Hornblower wrote in newsehsfvove7kak5nktdflaaonjvjt82nve8@
4ax.com:

I have disposed of a couple of nocturnal coons with a big
Havahart trap. I live in the city , but by a railroad track with a
variety of wildlife. I'd never thought about what I'd do if I caught a
skunk in the thing until I saw one in the yard one morning. What a
mess that could be.


If you live in a city or suburb, call your city's animal control to see if
they will pick one up. If not, either put up signs by the trap saying
"Absolutely no skunks allowed" or practice opening the trap with a ten foot
pole.

-- Salty

Hi Salty,
It's really too late now, but here is an idea which might help.
Squirrels
are not active at night, so simply close your traps at sunset. The
skunks are
however night creatures. We make a habit of leaning a large board
against one side
of the trap. It's main purpose is to keep nosy people from seeing what
you are doing.
It was of use to us last time we inadvertently caught a skunk. By
creeping up behind
the board slowly and reaching, again slowly, around the board to open
the trap, we were
able to release it, without being skunked. It's best to do this in the
daytime, when
the skunks are mostly half asleep. After we opened the trap, it took
several hours before
the skunk exited, mainly because it was disoriented and groggy. If you
are going for
coons, you have to take your chances with a nighttime trapping.

Sherwin Dubren

Salty Thumb wrote:

H Hornblower wrote in newsehsfvove7kak5nktdflaaonjvjt82nve8@
4ax.com:

I have disposed of a couple of nocturnal coons with a big
Havahart trap. I live in the city , but by a railroad track with a
variety of wildlife. I'd never thought about what I'd do if I caught a
skunk in the thing until I saw one in the yard one morning. What a
mess that could be.


If you live in a city or suburb, call your city's animal control to see if
they will pick one up. If not, either put up signs by the trap saying
"Absolutely no skunks allowed" or practice opening the trap with a ten foot
pole.

-- Salty

That's a great question to ask *before* a skunk gets in the trap...

Good luck, and best regards, ;-)
Bob

I suppose the use of the Hav-a-hart trap is so that you can release
the critter alive. I would assmue that you let them go in some country
or wooded setting. Do you realize that you are just tranferring the
problem to some one else? What would you think if someone from the
country released one near your house in the city? In other words; I
live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.

(Gary The Rookie Farmer) wrote in
m:

I suppose the use of the Hav-a-hart trap is so that you can release
the critter alive. I would assmue that you let them go in some country
or wooded setting. Do you realize that you are just tranferring the
problem to some one else? What would you think if someone from the
country released one near your house in the city? In other words; I
live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.


We also don't want your unwanted dogs or cats.

On 29 Jun 2003 05:26:10 -0700, (Gary The Rookie
Farmer) wrote:

I suppose the use of the Hav-a-hart trap is so that you can release
the critter alive. I would assmue that you let them go in some country
or wooded setting. Do you realize that you are just tranferring the
problem to some one else? What would you think if someone from the
country released one near your house in the city? In other words; I
live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.

Actually. as I don't see too well in the dark, I catch them in
a trap and shoot them.

I live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.

Then you shouldn't live in the country. Animals have a right to their own
living space, too. If you don't feel that you can live in harmony with
these surroundings you should move into the city.

I'm going to be blunt here, not because I want to be insulting but because I
feel it's the truth: This is exactly the attitude which leads to the loss
of natural habitat and the extinction of certain species. While wild
animals are not welcome in our personal space, finding ways to make it
unpalatable for them is the best option, not killing them.

Seeker wrote:
I live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.


Then you shouldn't live in the country. Animals have a right to their own
living space, too. If you don't feel that you can live in harmony with
these surroundings you should move into the city.

I'm going to be blunt here, not because I want to be insulting but because I
feel it's the truth: This is exactly the attitude which leads to the loss
of natural habitat and the extinction of certain species. While wild
animals are not welcome in our personal space, finding ways to make it
unpalatable for them is the best option, not killing them.


Oh, I dunno. Since we have killed off all the predators, we have assumed
the responsibility for keeping pressure on the rodents and deer (etc.)
population. We don't do as good a job of thinning out mostly the weak ones
and keeping the population in check like the bobcats, foxes, wolves, and
owls did, but that's beside the point. It's a job we never should have
asked for, but it has to be done.

The wild animals may have a right to be there, but they have a right to be
killed and eaten too. It's their way.

Best regards,
Bob -- not volunteering to eat a skunk

City boy can't handle sharing his "personal space" with the creature that
lived there long before it was fashionable for uptight yuppies to go
suburban. May he be mauled by a bear going through his discarded "lean
cuisine" left outside in a hefty bag.

The only trapped skunk we see is the city boy himself.

ROTFLMAO!!!


Seeker wrote in message
...
I live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks or
tree rats (squirrels) around here.

Then you shouldn't live in the country. Animals have a right to their own
living space, too. If you don't feel that you can live in harmony with
these surroundings you should move into the city.

I'm going to be blunt here, not because I want to be insulting but because
I
feel it's the truth: This is exactly the attitude which leads to the loss
of natural habitat and the extinction of certain species. While wild
animals are not welcome in our personal space, finding ways to make it
unpalatable for them is the best option, not killing them.

"Seeker" wrote in
:

I live in the country and I don't want anymore damned raccons, skunks
or tree rats (squirrels) around here.

Then you shouldn't live in the country. Animals have a right to their
own living space, too. If you don't feel that you can live in harmony
with these surroundings you should move into the city.

What you don't understand is if an animal is born in the city and then
caught in one of those cages then moved to the country it dies. If wild
animals are moved from what they know, they must be retrained to a new
place. Of course buzzards must eat too.

Then you shouldn't live in the country. Animals have a right to their own
living space, too. If you don't feel that you can live in harmony with
these surroundings you should move into the city.

Actually, animals have no 'rights', but that is another discussion.

Even in the city, where I live, you still get various creatures disrupting your
carefully laid plans - herons in the fish pond, racoons in just about
everything.

You can trap coons, but you'd have to release them a LONG way away to be sure
they wouldn't return, and in any case, there is probably a small army of his
mates waiting to take his place.

I knew one guy that trapped them and then drowned them. He seemed to have a
never ending supply of them lined up to traipse through his yard. I suspect
that the only way to keep a coon proof yard would be good fencing topped with
wire (electric or otherwise), and if you live in the country, that isn't an
option. Better learn to live with it, or you'll get ulcers.

The only guy around here that managed to rid himself, at least temporarily of
coons was someone that was trapping them and somehow one of them managed to get
trapped in a supposedly humane trap in such a way as to cause it pain. The
caterwauling was heard for blocks and all of the other coons left for places
unknown by the time he released the poor beast. I wonder if recordings of
simulated racoon torture would have the same effect?

As for squirrels, while I agree they are pretty much just fuzzy tailed rats,
you will never get rid of them.

One guy I know was ****ed off that they always ate his birdseed from his
feeders, and he invested in a rather diabolical feeder device that sensed the
weight of anything heavier than a squirrel, and then released a spring drive
that spun the whole feeder, launching the squirrel into low orbit. It didn't
seem to faze the squirrels, and was actually pretty enteratining to watch,
sitting on the porch, making bets about direction and distance for the next
'flying' squirrel.

For some inexplicable reasons, (Bill Spohn) wrote:


:
:One guy I know was ****ed off that they always ate his birdseed from his
:feeders, and he invested in a rather diabolical feeder device that sensed the
:weight of anything heavier than a squirrel, and then released a spring drive
:that spun the whole feeder, launching the squirrel into low orbit. It didn't
:seem to faze the squirrels, and was actually pretty enteratining to watch,
:sitting on the porch, making bets about direction and distance for the next
:'flying' squirrel.

A long, narrow metal cone mounted wide-end downward around the
feeder's pole will stop a squirrel (assuming that the feeder is not
within jumping distance of any other object, including the ground.

--
Wendy Chatley Green

"Bill Spohn" wrote


As for squirrels, ... you will never get rid of them.

One guy I know was ****ed off that they always ate his birdseed from
his
feeders, and he invested in a rather diabolical feeder device that
sensed the
weight of anything heavier than a squirrel, and then released a
spring drive
that spun the whole feeder, launching the squirrel into low orbit.
It didn't
seem to faze the squirrels, and was actually pretty enteratining to
watch,
sitting on the porch, making bets about direction and distance for
the next
'flying' squirrel

Are you kidding? That is the funniest thing I've heard in a long
while! I'm actually an animal lover, but if the squirrels were
willing to keep coming back for more, I guess it wasn't actually
cruel... And at least you were all getting along: they had to earn
their food by providing entertainment for you and your friends...
It's the neighborly thing to do! I'd buy one of those feeder myself
if I had squirrels here.

Shelly

Are you kidding? That is the funniest thing I've heard in a long
while! I'm actually an animal lover, but if the squirrels were
willing to keep coming back for more, I guess it wasn't actually
cruel...

Look at www.yankeeflipper.com
They have a movie of the little bushy tailed rats getting a ride.
Hilarious!