Got my fisrt job today. Skunks in someone's yard. What are the best skunk baits? I thought to try fresh eggs first. Any other tips? Thanks.

I have had very good luck with Bob Jameson's skunk lures and trailimg scents, as well as carroll Black's skunk lures and baits. I also had very good luck with Wolf River's products,( of Wisconsin) but not sure if he is still in business or not. Maybe Robb could answer that question. In any event, skunks are good $$$$! I have trapped over 80 this year so far.

sardines

cat food but need to be careful of local cats

Eighty skunks!! Nice. I'll ask the customer if any cats are around. Do you cover the trap to keep dogs and kids away from the captured animal?

I use poly traps on skunk jobs. Drill some drain holes in the back. Make a little straw nest (like a bird nest) and bait it with Grubstake.
Skunks that have been captured and released may be hard to catch again.

Bait====== marshmallows
Lure======trap placement/positioning...... and apple oil

Lure and bait presentation are as important with skunks as any animal I know of.......Oh, where is that Jameson when you need him!

skunks are caught at night so when the job is in a KIDS play area I get there 1st thing in the morning to avoid the headache..

not to mention people flip out when a skunk is caught for soem reason

Skunks can be caught on a number of things in reality. However having an effective bait/lure combo that is relatively target specific is another story.When you start using sardines, fish oil,cat food and other such domestic odors you can bet your feral and domestic cat issuses and raccoon catches will increase proportionally.

I can count the number of feral or domestic cats I have caught over the last 37 years in cage traps on half of one hand as a result of using target specific products. Pretty good odds when considering you are in an urban and rural farm areas on most jobs.

Bob, do you mean commercial baits?

I set two cage traps yesterday in the customer's detached garage where they see the skunks getting into the trash. There were several cats around. I baited both traps with a nest made of grass. In the nest i burried a small bowl, and in the bowl I placed one whole chicken egg and one broken one so that they were visible. I put a couple egg shells and a few chicken feathers at the entrance of each trap. Finally I put a tiny amout of Craven's Gusto on the nest.

Nothing after night #1.

Eggs can be good eye appeal at about any set presentation. Fur trapping or control work. The use of a Trailing scent has proven its value over and over thru the years.They are invaluable when useing such a lead in material.

I am referring to a good bait and lure that have been researched as to their attractiveness in getting the attention of a specific target animal.Yes I am referring to our commercial baits and lures for skunk specifically.I know their abilities if you are on target with your set up. There are a couple out there I read about but do not have any experience with the others or the developers experience.

Obvious eye and odor appeal is important with skunks.A rolled up piece of white wrapping paper is good eye appeal with a good bait and lure at times.

Try tying a walmart white plastic shopping bag on top of the cage by the handles for additional attraction. Use some visual attraction in the cage front with some popcorn as eye appeal leading into the mouth and into the cage. Scented types work best if you dont have any LTS trailing scent.

burgerking hamburgs work great in my area. use the fries like a trailing scent. sounds crazy but it works

i would try some marshmellows with some ADC tuttie frutti or Jameson fireball......that always works well ....

if not switch to veggies with the paste bait...carrots with the stems works too

TRY ERICSONS RASPBERRY OR STRAWBERRY works great this time of year....also been useing ericsons grub past...GO WITH AN ADC BAIT GET RID OF THE GUSTO.THATS A LDC CALL FOR CANINES....

Bob your trailing scents WORKs!Set trap bait(Fireball) lead animal into trap w/trail scent,take MONEY,go home!
Bob Evans cwcp

I use honey as a lure and a little debbie honey bun in the back of a poly. works year round.

Well, so far I caught my biggest coon ever, a 30++ pounder which was getting in the client's trash. Then I removed the big traps and replaced with smaller skunk sized ones. Then I caught my smallest coon ever, a 5-pounder. The little coon was the most aggressive, meanest critter I ever caught. Might have been sick.

The baits I've been using include honey on bread, and two ADC baits, rosebud and Butterscotch on either a cracker or an egg.

So far no skunks. The client had been leaving the cat food out all night, and he quit doing that before I started the job. I believe the skunks may have moved on. Should I end this job for now?

try some veggies or cat food

Thanks for all the advise guys. We are going to give it until the weekend. I think the critters have vacated the site. I wonder if the customer mistook raccoons for skunks. Maybe they just moved on when the free cat meals stopped.