Rabid Skunks

[Modernhoglegs]

Here's a self-defense issue we don't think about every day.

The Mrs called me at work the other day to tell me she saw a skunk in the yard across the street running in circles. I called animal control to report it, and learned that a positive test for rabies in a skunk less than a mile from my house.

We in the South are used to encountering skunks after dark, and skunks who live in the 'burbs are usually pretty calm. Rabid skunks can be active any time of day, and pose an immediate threat if encountered at close quarters.

The best defense is to back away slowly while avoiding all contact with the animal.
Get inside a building or vehicle and call 911 or animal control. If retreat is not possible then shoot for the animal's body. A skunk's head is smaller than a ping pong ball, and will be moving.

The animal control officer advised me to tell the neighbors to get their dogs and cats a rabies booster just in case.

 

[Impureclient]

On the no retreat thing, don't shoot the head if all possible if you suspect an animal is rabid and it contacted you or a pet. Apparently if you do, animal control can't test to see if it has rabies.
My dog got in a bad fight with a raccoon and I ended it by putting one into his head. My dog was clamped on tight and both were still after rolling around so it was safe to shoot it point blank in his skull.
Ended the fight quick but my dog was quarantined after even though he was vaccinated.

 

[Cee Zee]

I followed a fox around the corner of my house after it came right to my front door eating the cat's food. I have a sliding glass door. Something told me to give the corner a wide turn and it's a good thing I did. I wish I had given it a wider turn. I came right on that fox standing not more than 3 feet from me growling and not backing up a step. I had my Marlin 60 with me. I put it down near the head of the fox mainly to be able to push it away if it came at me. I fired at it point blank about 8 times right into it's head (I thought I should save some ammo in case it came at me). It acted like nothing happened. I guess I never hit the brain stem and without that the fox was able to continue. It finally turned and walked away. I shot it twice with a shotgun after that (a 20 ga. with bird shot). It still didn't die. It wasn't until it was shot with a 12 ga. with buck shot that it died. I bought a 12 ga and some buckshot right after that.

People who don't live in remote areas don't know the dangers of living outside the city. Of course coons carry rabies too and they have moved into cities.

The fox wasn't tested for rabies but a fox is a terribly shy animal. No way it wasn't rabid.

 

[Deog]

I live in a area called Signal hill Ca. basically long beach surrounds the city i live in 2.2 sq miles. it is a oil area with lots of open land on a hill surrounded by city. anyway, the SKUNK issue is huge here, they are everywhere after dark. I had one come strolling in my shop roll up door one night, i froze and then looked for my dog { he was in the loft sleeping }. I was lucky, mr skunk just looked at me, and turned around and walked out and was gone.
My problem lies with some psycho lady that goes around the streets at night and feeds the wild cats every night, guess what ? the skunks and cats co exist together. about weel ago i was going to the shop at 10 pm, just beyond my complex i see lots of eyes in the head lights, naturally i drive closer to see 10 skunks and a gaggle of cats eating cat food out of 5 tupper ware containers.
I called the local police station to see if they could do anything about the women feeding the cats, they assured me she was nuts and told me that there was nothing they could do about her, and suggested i call animal control.

I call animal control, and they tell me to call the police. So now, at night, i am full aware of my surroundings at the shop due to this vial creature and all his buddies.

I would not mind putting some kind of skunk killer in the food for the bastards. I smell them at least one time a week.

 

[drcook]

On the subject of coons.

If you have to dispatch one and pick it up with gloved (or otherwise hands) DO NOT put your hands near your face until you wash down.

Here in Ohio a guy up the street from my folks killed a coon and brushed his face with his gloved hands. That transferred the worm parasite that coons carry to him and he was totally, unfixable blind within a short time.

 

[Cee Zee]

Pretty weird stuff drcook. I've handled many coons without any problems. There's always that chance though. We hunted coons for many years until we got too old to do it any more. At one time the furs were worth a lot of money so we brought home all we could take. Softest stuff going that coon fur. I hunted in KY but my brother hunted a lot in Ohio too.

 

[PabloJ]

Well, now we know the reason for .22LR shortage don't we.

 

[hemiram]

The Skunks have made a huge comeback around my neighborhood. It used to be a rare night that I didn't smell them, until the Coyotes arrived. At about the same time the West Nile Virus killed off a lot of the Blue Jays and Cardinals, along with their cousins, the Crows. When the Coyotes came in, the Buzzards and Vultures came with them. It was like everything changed very quickly, the Skunk population dropped tremendously, and the Raccoons took a hit too. The first 15 years or so that I lived here, I never saw a Vulture or Buzzard on the ground. Suddenly, I started seeing carcasses, apparently killed by Coyotes, with Buzzards and Vultures fighting over them. It was kind of entertaining. My old dog Gus was mesmerized seeing birds that big fighting like they did. I would see Coyotes a couple of times a week on the way to work. Now, I rarely see Coyotes, but the 'Coons and Skunks are back to almost their former numbers, along with the feral Cats, who have a nice relationship with the Skunks. My mother discovered their friendship when she made the mistake of feeding the cats that roamed the neighborhood. One afternoon, she was on the porch putting food out through the window when she noticed one black and white Cat had very shiny fur, and was bigger than all the other Cats. I hadn't seen her move that fast in a very long time when it dawned on her it was a Skunk.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Interesting, but off topic for THR.