Look who I found in my garden? It's not santa...

[btrowe1]

Getting ready to cook dinner and guess who stops over and has a meal of his own..



He"s having a merry old time, not digging up the plants but going for what"s under the grass.. Anyone have an idea how to get rid of him, humanely.. at 1st choice, gun 2nd choice..

He's a young'n, should he be outside now??






Looks so cute makes ya almost want to go pet him...

[applestar]

Love the 1st photo with the orange day lilies framing the picture.

... good luck

[JayPoc]

What time of the day was this? Pretty unusual for a skunk to be out in daylight. If not very early in the a.m. or late in the evening, I'd be a little worried. Behavior that far out of the norm could mean rabies...

[jal_ut]

Looks so cute makes ya almost want to go pet him...

Dare ya........

12 gauge shotgun works well.

[HonoluluGirl]

How cute! What do they eat?

[btrowe1]

On closer inspection I found some grubs under the grass. He was feeding on them, The skunk didn't touch any of my plants he just helped me by doing a little weeding.

[Ohio Tiller]

They are mainly bug eaters and I am willing to bet he was dining on worms or crickets under the grass. they will dig out wasp nests and they can eat their weight in grubs! The little SOB's will wipe out a bee hive if they fine one. They provoke the bees making them come out after them and they eat them like candy! Oh and if you have chickens you better do as jal_ut says they will eat every egg they find!

[Gary350]

I would be worried about seeing a shrunk out in the day light. I caught 11 skunks in a trap, Rabies control came and got them all. I was told that skunks don't like the light if you see one out during the day it probably has rabies.

[JayPoc]

I would be worried about seeing a shrunk out in the day light. I caught 11 skunks in a trap, Rabies control came and got them all. I was told that skunks don't like the light if you see one out during the day it probably has rabies.

Hmm....I wish I had thought to mention that....oh wait...

[Francis Barnswallow]

I had an issue with raccoons going in my trash cans at night and causing a huge mess. I contacted my city and they set multiple traps around my trash can area. The next morning there were four raccoons in the traps. I was told they released them in an area far away my location. I haven't had any problems with them since, and that was 3 years ago.

Might want to try that.

[rainbowgardener]

Assuming it isn't rabid, what harm is it doing, eating grubs out of your garden?

I certainly can't guarantee it isn't carrying rabies, but it isn't necessarily so. Raccoons are supposedly nocturnal also, but they are out patrolling my garden at all hours, including high noon. Animals have more flexibility in their behavior patterns than we give them credit for and they will look for food when the food is there.

[shadylane]

Not exactly true for them to have rabies when out and about in daylight...I have seen skunks out in the mid afternoon along with babies...acting normal.

One should look for partial paralysis in the hind quarters, along with aggressieveness, seizures, stumbling around and vocalizing with confusion in rapid skunks...

[Ohio Tiller]

I am a retired wildlife officer and I have seen my share of skunks and every other kind of nuisance animal! yes skunks are nocturnal but when they have a good feeding spot they will hit it during the day also! Sick animals do not eat if the sickness has started to effect them they do not eat they just wander and act sick! This grub eater looked healthy and acted healthy but No I don't want them around my garden or bee hives!
Most states have laws about nuisance animals that say trapped animals can not be relocated and must be destroyed!

[Gary350]

Tennessee has a terrible problem with rabies in skunks. If you catch one in a trap it becomes top priority Rabies Control will be there in 15 minutes to pick it up, and they do destroy all skunks.

When I lived 8 miles out in the country in Illinois I sometimes did see skunks early in the morning and late in the evening while the sun was up. I never worried much about the skunks they did not seem to bother the garden until it became very hot in the summer. If it had not rained in several weeks skunks would eat tomatoes probably because they were thirsty.

[gunsmokex]

I know a couple of guy that will take care of your skunk problem, Smith and Wesson. I guess if you ok with it just leave him alone. Live traps can be bought at some hardware stores, I know here Ace carries them. I fenced my garden in knowing for sure the critters will definitely invade as I've had raccoons and skunks here over the years all of the time. My dog has single handedly killed raccoons, opossums, mink, woodchucks, skunks, muskrats, gophers and feral cats. I'm counting on him and my new pup to protect the corn patch even though its fenced in. Over the last 9yrs we've averaged at least 5-10 raccoons per year, usually he puts them up the tree. In the stream it gets ugly but lately he's slowed down on his coon hunting, I'm just hoping that he taught the little one something about coon hunting because they aren't going to go away anytime soon. My stream is a virtual wildlife highway.

Any way sorry I know there are a lot of wildlife lovers here but nature is a tough thing I didn't train my dog to coon hunt, he just did it on his own. Either a dog will run or fight, mine fights but is very friendly to kids and dogs. All other animals he hates lol.

Anyway good luck with your skunk

[valley]

They, skunks, will kill chickens and ducks usually drinking the blood. I think they would come back and eat the entire chicken if the owners left them where they were killed. In the wild the eat the young of many smaller animals and the animals. Oh, and bugs and greens for a well rounded diet. A 4-10 will do.

[ElizabethB]

Wild Life and Fisheries or your local animal control can help you. They will generally "lend" you a heart trap with a refundable deposit and pick up the critter once it is trapped.

I live 'in town" in a subdivision and during the summer I will smell skunk at sunset. I have never seen one but I sure have smelled them.

I have to tell you this skunk story. Keep in mind that this took place 52-54 years ago. At the time my Dad was an active alcoholic ( he did recover later) and spent a lot of time in bars. My very young self woke from a deep sleep in the wee hours of the morning to the sound of scratching. I sat up in bed in looked towards the sound. The curtains were not completely closed and in the moon light I could see SOMETHING scratching at the wall. My little, terrified self slowly crawled to the end of the bed and began softly calling for Mamma. I was too afraid to call loudly so it took a while before she heard me. Mom came to the door and asked what was wrong. Before I could tell her she heard the scratching. She rushed into the room, scooped me out of the bed and rushed out closing the door behind her. She woke up Dad who was still mostly in the bag. We huddled on Mom's bed while Dad wirh his pistol and in his underwear entered my room and flipped on the light. Instead of a gun shot we heard laughter. Dad walked out of my room cradling a SKUNK in his arms. He had gotten involved in a card game at his favorite bar and "won" this skunk. At the time it was not illegal to remove the scent glands from a skunk and sell it as a pet.

Dad had come home drunk with a skunk in a box. He never thought about the nocturnal nature of skunks. After all of the commotion the next morning I had a pet skunk. His name was Bootsie. Dad built a nice cage for him and he was MINE. I fed him and played with him like a cat. He used a litter box. His cage was kept on the back patio. After 3 or 4 months Bootsie figured out how to open his cage and left.

I promise this is a true story!

[pinksand]

Aw, I think he's a beautiful little fluff tail! I saw a baby skunk in the brush on a hike a few weeks ago and am right with you in needing to resist the urge to cuddle the little guy. I agree that a healthy looking nocturnal animal that's out during the day doesn't necessarily mean rabies, animals don't always follow the "rules."

I feel that unless the animal is a threat, I'm willing to share my space. My backyard groundhog for instance... he moved in when the surrounding land was developed and he lost his home. The previous owners of our house gave up on their veggie garden because of him. I've been told to get rid of the guy, but I feel that he was there first and he's a very fat and happy little guy who has been known to snooze under my patio table. When I get around to it I will be planting a tall raised veggie garden with chicken wire underneath so he can't dig his way under. I think in a way I feel all this guilt for overrunning the planet for the sake of human convenience, these little choices here and there somehow make me feel slightly less guilty for my selfishness.