Do skunks get trap shy?

Woke up this morning to a skunk waiting in a cage trap. Wasn't expecting that, and it was sort of good thing considering one has been squirting around the neighbourhood for the past two years. It was my first caged skunk and luckily, info learned here over the years prevented an incident, but not so good was that when I was trying to transfer it from a large cage to a smaller one, I wrongly estimated the size of hole it could get through and it squeezed out between the space between the cages and made it's escape.

Just wondering how it will react to the cage next time it's back (and any other advice). Cage was baited with marshmallows. Skunk was calm.

Yes, they get trap shy real fast.

Yes the stupid animals get trap shy and turn into some of the worst geniuses in avoiding traps. Some of the worst ADC problems I have had were animals that were captured and turned loose by some caring soul, who thought their vermin had a right to live in destroying other people's property. If you catch cats a few times, they will never go near a box trap again.

Been lucky to get but one bad one in many years, but any animal can get wised up and turn into a nightmare. Would not go into a positive cage set, but dig next to the cage. I would move the trap, he would dig next to it. Put out an old large pan trap with baits. Would not go near it. Camouflaged a 160 in a positive set, ended it, but he sprayed. Woke everyone up at 2 a.m. It was a no win from beginning to end, way too much time.

Skunks are trained to come running to the trap.

I've seen some traps get skunk shy!

That is unfortunate. I was hoping that their gentle manner, the general distance other animals give them, and "don't-mess-with-me" back end would give them the bit of sass to enter a cage again.



Well, me too! When I signed up for my trapper course and told the instructor why I wanted to take the course (to trap animals causing problems on my property), he said, "Well, if you catch a skunk, DON'T CALL ME!"

I have a deep appreciation for those of you who trap skunks or release the bigger wild animals from footholds!

Do you think a skunk would react differently to a different trap? Was a 12"x12"x32" cage trap that it entered, but I have a couple of tube traps. Only thing is, I don't know where it dens. Has to be close as it sprays about 6-8x per summer.

Can't use a conibear for the neighbours' cats (one of which I like). Was considering a foot hold of some sort, but am concerned about the smell. I've had one spray close to the house before and it took three days before you couldn't smell it inside, any more.

Not sure what you mean, John. Do you mean to set up fencing to bring them into the trap?

Skunks are directly related to otter and badgers. Otters and badgers can detect magnetic field of a trap. If that trap has a positive reading going into the trap you’re going to get refusals. So any trap that you use as a baited set to work best Should have a reduced intensity in order to make the best catch.Cage traps or traps with positive intensity readings going into the trap should be set as positive sets or forced sets in order to be the most productive.An example of a forced set would be a trap set over a hole.If you’re 12 x 12 x 32 trap has a negative or reduced setting going into the trap and through the trap it would be a good candidate to catch the hard to catch skunk.If a double door trap has a reduced intensity going through the trap it would be more likely to catch the animal than one that has a high intensity rating by far as much is 3 to 5 times better chance. Test your traps for magnetic field intensity so you know which is the best set for the trap.

Why not try a DP with a golf ball or plastic cup over the top? Less chance of catching a cat.

That should work. Animals will work the outside of a trap that emits a magnetic field. Such as a digging response from a coyote or a dog. A beaver will work the top of the 330, Where the field is emitted. I would think you would have more of a problem getting him out of the set than with a cage trap.
He would also be more likely to spray.

Again, I have experienced but one notable skunk refusal to a cage in 25 plus years out of many hundreds, indicating that whatever I have been doing has worked .9999999% of the time, not really a time to shift gears and change approach to read in and seek out manufactured non-existent problems, same goes for woodchucks and others too.

I'm with Jim on this.

Food and sex are the primary driving force of all animals. Eventually they succumb to those two things. Even a coyote and red fox are caught in cage traps at times. Not often or easy but it happens when they are hungry enough.

Keep the traps baited and ready, it will end up inside another one sooner than later.

I live in an urban area. I know that a skunk can spray when caught that way--was trying to avoid that. I have a skunk pole, but having it in a cage gives me a few more options after it has been trapped. (No intention of making it someone else's problem.)

Thing woke me up today at 5:30 AM with the stink. I have no idea why neighbours haven't said anything. Something or someone is getting sprayed.

I've also learned that you can, in fact, catch the neighbour's cat in a DP. No damage to the paw, thankfully. It was the 'good' cat. He was very good about it!

Well, I'm willing to provide one of those things. Food, that is. I don't want to catch it that badly!

Kirk De what are you talking about. Because I am reading what you are writing but not comprehending. How do I reduce the positive intensity of my traps. Trying to wrap my head around what you wrote

I wrote a short book that explains that animals are detecting the magnetic field of your traps no matter what trap device it is. Here’s a short video.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lvq0aDTQz4c

Kirk De how does one go about reducing that magnetic field in a trap to make the animal feel comfortable. I am many others would love to know the answer. If you would be so kind as to share it with us thank you in advance

Yesterday in ADC work was an example of what is common with 9 cage traps and one conibear in a mere 3 hours of checking. Of 9 cage traps there were 7 catches made, beaver #1393 caged, 5 woodchucks and a jumbo skunk in an 18 inch long trap with one beaver in the conibear, not unusual, just a good day related to the availability of the animals that required catching. If they are there, they get caught quickly. I find the biggest stressor related to animals getting educated is due to experiencing the capture of mom, dad and their brothers and sisters, seeing the others day after day caught in cages or conibears. Once they see 2,3 or 4 of their family group in a trap for several days in a row at a location they sometimes become both trap and location shy. Anyone using conibears for beaver over the years has seen it happen, even with "perfect" sets. If this occurs, at that point a change up approach is all that is needed to pick up the last hold out animal, with a different trap and location. The number of variables associated with animals being caught or not on a given day are numerous, difficult to isolate and explain, often solved by changing from a highly visible trap like a conibear or cage to a foothold, Bailey or snare that can be blended or hidden, just a question of keeping the trap out of sight.