Was wondering what the perfect size of needle for extracting skunk quill. Did it last year but just used the same size I was using to dispatch (18 and 5/8) but did one with that size already and was having some difficulty with it. Got several to do next week and wanted to be well prepared.

18 ga. should do just fine for essence and mustard extraction. The warmer the pods the easier it is to extract and remove most of the contents. I done many with smaller ga. needles with no problem.

I've always used 16 gauge without issue, that's just what I had on hand from vaccinating.

I use 1" 18 ga.

I've got 18g but switched to 22g as the 18 were putting some pressure on the sac before it slipped in, kinda dicey with full sacs. 22g works for the fluid but not so well for the mustard.

I use 1-1/2" x 16ga only because that's what I had on hand.