Posted on 10/06/2025 2:23:20 AM PDT by Hot Tabasco
Yesterday evening I killed a skunk in my backyard and left it to be picked up this morning. I set my trail camera out because when I killed a skunk previously, it was gone by morning and I was hoping it would happen again.
Sure enough, it was gone but no photos on the camera. There was a brief blur but nothing else.
This is a mystery to me and the only thing I can think of is that an owl might have swooped in and snatched it up.
Any thoughts? I know the camera was working because later last night it captured my neighbor letting out her dog.
![]() |
Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Put out grub killer on your lawn and the skunks will go away.
Owls love skunks.
They will not spray if in a box trap.
Just relocate if leagle.
Most states make you kill them.
They make a kit you can buy that is a syringe+poison.
Stick them in the heart and they won’t spray.
I did some wildlife control work. I hated killing skunks because they are so docile.
one time, Bear was taping his show in Hawaii, and he was walking around some lava and it looked very dangerous but a person filming him on their phone turned the phone slightly to the left, and there was a huge, 5-star hotel nearby. sheeesh
Speedy Gonzalez ???
Animals can be very sneaky.
Don’t know what picked up the skunk but on Saturday I saw a beaver that was pulling a dead beaver out of the road. I should’ve pulled over and took video.
That would have been cool if you could have gotten the video
Pepe LaPew
Skunk fairy?
What bothered me about him was how often he would do the opposite of what you should do in a survival situation, like running and jumping from heights for no reason, when a twisted ankle or knee would be a quiet lonely death.
In a survival situation you become MORE cautious to avoid injuries that can end your walking, not LESS.
Risk is for car camping and casual outings with friends, but in a survival situation, become more careful, because injury can mean you just killed your chances.
I had a couple of Great Pyrenees with my sheep herd. They would shred them and eat them and the only trace of them was a few chunks of fur.
Not likely, they usually leave something in exchange.
Occasionally we catch s skunk in a live trap around the chicken pen. Safe easy way to move them out is to toss an old towel over the trap. Spray it with starting fluid till the skunk goes to sleep (ether) Then you can dump him out safely and shoot him. Cover the trap with Line for a few days and the smell goes away.
If you shoot a skunk while in the trap it will release and you will have the odor there for a long time.
They will not spray if in a box trap......
Stick them in the heart and they won’t spray.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I was growing up on a farm, we used to have free range chickens that would go into coops at night. Skunks were always a problem as they would reach in through the slats and pull a leg out and eat it. It was always a challenge to get the coops tight enough so that wasn’t possible.
Anyway, my Dad had a trap set up and I watched him reach in and grab the skunk. There was always a folklore that if you grab a skunk by the tail, it can’t spray and he wanted to prove that one way or another. I watched him do it a few times and I can confirm... if you grab a skunk by the tail and hold it up, it can’t spray.
This is true but I'd also look at potential overwatering and/or drainage issues because grubs need a very moist environment.
No overwatering or drainage issues - no grubs. No grubs - no skunks.
Great-horned Owl will take a skunk.
That's my thought. Do they land and grab or swoop and snatch on the fly?
Because whatever it was didn't trigger the camera.
Owls seem the best bet - they do eat “roadkill”....
Maybe some illegal alien Haitians looking for some meat for their breakfast???
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.