I have three lawns that are getting destroyed by skunks digging for grubs. I've been trying for a week and haven't been able to catch them. The homeowners say they see them every night digging up their yards. I've tried spray proof traps, small cage traps enclosed with cardboard, and large cage traps open with no cardboard. I've tried apples, wet cat food, dry cat food, Cheetos, and marsh mellows with peanut butter. I haven't caught any. I have no idea what else to do other than wait with a spot light and shoot them. Does anybody have any suggestions? Seems like when they find grubs, they don't want anything else. I advised the homeowners to treat for grubs to eliminate the food source. I've never had a problem catching skunks. Usually get them in the first night or two in the spring and summer. I haven't been able to find a den hole to set a 160. It's been frustrating to say the least. Wasting a lot of time and gas visiting the sites every day with no results.

Trail camera to see whats going on, and find their route. They may have seen them every night before you got there, things might have changed since then. JMO, as far as them finding grubs and disregarding everything else isn't true. We trap skunk throughout the year even "grubbing" and have no issue with them entering cages. Trail cams will tell you a lot.


Homeowner had purchased what he was lead to believe was a "skunk deterrent" and saturated under the porch with it. Didn't believe he had them under the deck anymore. In the trap the following morning.

if they are grubbing, why not use a grub based bait/lure ?

They have been there every night since I set traps. I have 6 traps set. They walk right by them. Caught probably 80 skunks this year early before they starting grubbing. This is in the middle of a residential neighborhood.

Trapperjeff,- Drift fences work very well. I have used them to catch many different animals, e.g., armadillos, raccoons, opossums, both gray and red fox, and squirrels. The setup can be modified to cover just about any situation.

Typical setup


Skunk


Gray fox

I understand your fencing but the skunks are walking right by my baited traps. The homeowner watches them feed on grubs beside my traps. They have zero interest in any bait I offer.

No bait is needed. The skunks follow the fencing, and into the traps, as they move across the yard searching for grubs. That is just my way of doing it.

LA - where do you get the short fence in, or cut it yourself?

The fencing is 4’ wide safety fencing, often used around construction sites. The first I used was salvaged after the construction was finished. It is often discarded when the construction is finished. I would check with the construction crew for permission to salvage it. I soon found that I could purchase new rolls at Lowe’s and farm supply stores in 100’ lengths. It is then cut into one-foot widths, then into 50 and 25 foot lengths. I use wooden stakes to hold the fence up between the traps.

Drift fence for grubbing skunks is the cat's pajamas. I really struggled with grubbers until I started fencing. It takes a little more work, but I've put up as much as a couple hundred plus feet of fencing to be sure the skunks couldn't reach anywhere they wanted to grub. I still bait the traps, usually Grubstake or Peaches and Cream on a marshmallow - and a trail of Cheetos. I use green snow fencing and stake with 30" T-bar stakes. Works great, many thank to LAtrapper for sharing.

^^this, or Jamesons Peaches N Cream, as already mentioned.

They were my GO TO skunk baits when I was in the biz.

Very interesting idea!

I just finished a job where raccoons were the culprit. Have you ever used fence for them? I doubt if ever needed.

When you are setup for skunks if coon are around do they tear down the fences?

When set up for skunks, how large of an area do you fence? Do you just fence the problem area plus enlargement using zigzags? It seems that each subsequent night, they come back and resume where they left off.

When using the fencing, do you use row door traps with no treadle or single door with a treadle? I can’t tell in the photos.

Thanks and best wishes.

The traps in the pictures are old single door HAVAHART 1079 with a pan treadle. Any well built trap will work. Skunks and raccoons have both been caught in them. They can both sometimes dig surrounding soil and fencing into them, unless they are set on plywood or other protective surface. I often used simple baits when trapping for meat eating animals,e.g., canned mackerel, canned cat and dog food, fried chicken skin and bones, beaver meat, peanut butter, dry dog food flavored with bacon grease and anise extract, etc. Persimmons and figs are good for fox and raccoons. I did use a few of Paul Dobbins and Asa Lennon baits and lures too.


Reply I made to another member by PM.

Four foot wide wide orange safety fencing is used for the fence.
I cut each strip about eleven inches wide as you will lose about an inch of material with each cut. On four foot wide material, use a black Sharpie marking pen to divide the fencing into four equally sized strips. On your first attempt, practice cutting on a three or four foot long section of fencing. The left and right edge will have one straight side. I prefer the orange fencing for safety. It is easily seen by the customer and visitors.

I use Straight-Cut Aviation Snips, similar to those shown at- https://www.homedepot.com/p/Wiss-Straight-Cut-Aviation-Snips-M3RS/100060795. They are available at most hardware stores. They are also useful for cutting ¼” and ½” hardware cloth. They come in straight cut, left cut, and right cut models.

I use wooden stakes for safety too. If someone does trip over the fence, the stake will break. The stakes are cut 18 inches long with a 30-degree bevel on the bottom end. The bevel will make the stakes directional, the stake will lean in the direction of the bevel. I little experimentation will show you what I mean. The stake is interwoven between the meshes of the fence.







EDIT: 3 Oct 18 Raccoon pictures added. Baited cages, no drift fence.

Sleeping raccoon.


Raccoon woke up.