Releasing an Accidentally Trapped Skunk

Reader Contribution by Pam Dawling
Published on April 24, 2014

Last week in the garden we were stymied by excess rain (yet again). Beasties were eating our crops. I caught two groundhogs already, snacking on our kale. In the process of trapping groundhogs in a live trap, I accidentally caught a skunk. This happened last year and I wrote about it on my blog, SustainableMarketFarming.com. It could even have been the same silly skunk – it had a lot of white and not much black to its fur.

Live-Trapping a Skunk

So, how to let the skunk out of the trap without arousing its ire? We brainstormed a bit and I told the crew what I did last year, using sticks to open the trap and a plastic sack to screen myself. One of the crew came up with a better idea, which I’m passing on, in case you ever need to know! She got a large piece of cloth, draped it over the trap and then delicately opened the trap by hand, through the fabric. It worked like a charm. The skunk ambled out. But then it turned round and went back in, back to sleep. Skunks are nocturnal, so I suppose it thought better of setting out in bright daylight to find a new place to sleep. We left the trap open all night, and in the morning it had gone.

The fabric was so perfect we are now keeping it in the garden shed in case we need it again. It was a large piece of knit polyester – thick, drapeable, washable, and not the sort of thing anyone would have wanted to make clothes out of!

Moles in the Garden

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