cleardiddion
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Great story Art!
Will an Air Pistol Kill Skunks?
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Art Eatman
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Back when Jake Pickle was the US Rep from Austin, Braniff laid on a flight from Austin to New York via D.C. Leave Austin a little after 7AM, and come back from D.C. about 6PM. The flight was referred to as the "Pickle Special".
So the Pickle Special is some 30,000 feet above Arkansas and the stewardess sees a little guy in old Levis, worn-out cowboy boots, an old Levis jacket and a battered Stetson crawling along the aisle with a grocery sack in hand.
"Sir, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for Homer."
"And just what is a Homer?"
"Aw, he's my pet rattlesnake."
Picture a planeload of feet, snug against the overhead bins.
Yup. Hondo.
Then there was the UT reunion. Hondo, John Connally and also my father were there. Big John was SecTreas under Nixon at that time. Hondo and John encountered one another; Hondo dressed as mentioned above, but full-formal with a black string tie.
Big John: "Welll, Hondo Crouch! What in the world are you doing, these days?"
Hondo: "Aw, John, I went and bought me a little old town. You, what are you doing with yourself, these days?"
Hearsay has it that Big John sorta spluttered...
So the Pickle Special is some 30,000 feet above Arkansas and the stewardess sees a little guy in old Levis, worn-out cowboy boots, an old Levis jacket and a battered Stetson crawling along the aisle with a grocery sack in hand.
"Sir, what are you doing?"
"I'm looking for Homer."
"And just what is a Homer?"
"Aw, he's my pet rattlesnake."
Picture a planeload of feet, snug against the overhead bins.
Yup. Hondo.
Then there was the UT reunion. Hondo, John Connally and also my father were there. Big John was SecTreas under Nixon at that time. Hondo and John encountered one another; Hondo dressed as mentioned above, but full-formal with a black string tie.
Big John: "Welll, Hondo Crouch! What in the world are you doing, these days?"
Hondo: "Aw, John, I went and bought me a little old town. You, what are you doing with yourself, these days?"
Hearsay has it that Big John sorta spluttered...
Grumulkin
Member
There was a groundhog I was trying to trap and eliminate and I caught this. It didn't seem at all upset but I kept my distance and tried to figure out how to get it out of the trap without being sprayed.After a time, the skunk went to sleep with its tail over its head. I got a bungee cord, very gently attached one end to the far end of the trap and the other to the door, released the door and ran. The skunk didn't move. In fact, it stayed in the trap with its wide open door for 1 or 2 hours before discovering it was free and leaving.
I have set no more live traps since that catch.
FLAvalanche
Member
You can approach a skunk without getting sprayed. They won't spray unless they feel threatened. I crawled into hole around an underground basement window to get a skunk that fell down in and actually picked it up with my hands, lifted it up and set it on the ground without getting sprayed.
I don't think I would try that with one in a trap though. I think he's going to feel threatened by default.
I don't think I would try that with one in a trap though. I think he's going to feel threatened by default.
Flobert
Member
Our neighbor is borrowing the Havahart (that's the kind of trap that is, they're great) and trapping a fair amount of "game" so I just have to run around at night chasing down funny noises to find the critters myself. We've trapped a lot of possums, the occasional coon, no skunks recently that I know of.
Shooting possums, well, they can take a LOT of pellets without dying (right away at least), as I verified again tonight with two possums in a tree. Dispatching them in the trap, so the shots are point-blank, I can tell you, pellets have almost no effect. CB Longs/Shorts, being solid round-nose bullets, seem to have little effect also. Remington Subsonics, which are not like Colibris, by Subsonic they mean standard velocity, 800-900 fps or so, hollow-point, do the job. But I'm extremely leery of shooting something like that up into a tree. I need to get off my dead butt and work out a way to put a hollow point into a CB Short/Long bullet, because then it will expand and may be a lot more effective. The Remington Subsonics make a little noise, the CB's are very quiet, out of a rifle barrel.
For the OP's situation, I recommend getting a Havahart trap and trapping the critters, then disposing of them. Since they're skunks, I don't know what to suggest for dealing with the stink.
Shooting possums, well, they can take a LOT of pellets without dying (right away at least), as I verified again tonight with two possums in a tree. Dispatching them in the trap, so the shots are point-blank, I can tell you, pellets have almost no effect. CB Longs/Shorts, being solid round-nose bullets, seem to have little effect also. Remington Subsonics, which are not like Colibris, by Subsonic they mean standard velocity, 800-900 fps or so, hollow-point, do the job. But I'm extremely leery of shooting something like that up into a tree. I need to get off my dead butt and work out a way to put a hollow point into a CB Short/Long bullet, because then it will expand and may be a lot more effective. The Remington Subsonics make a little noise, the CB's are very quiet, out of a rifle barrel.
For the OP's situation, I recommend getting a Havahart trap and trapping the critters, then disposing of them. Since they're skunks, I don't know what to suggest for dealing with the stink.
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