Unless the stinky weasels are causing real damage I could never bring myself to shoot one. My wife and I own ferrets and they are too closely related to our pets.
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Sometimes you have to say NO.
- Thread starter Mickshooter
- Start date
Same. Skunks and opossums actually make great pets (de-skunked of course) and you can actually get them in a few states. A friend of mine and myself were actually talking about driving down to Tennessee to pick up a few "domesticated" opossums before realizing that the little guys only live about 3yrs. I couldn't bring myself to fall in love with something knowing it would only be around for that short of a time. I would have thought they lived as long as a cat.
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Ferrets are good for 7-9 years. Domesticated skunks are a bit different as pets than ferrets even though biologically they are to ferrets like foxes vs dogs. Skunks are omnivores and need a "human like" mix in thier diet. Ferrets are meat only. As a result of their diet skunk poop stinks like ours. Ferret poo is no where near as bad (as long as you clean the litter pans). Skunks are also about three to four times the body mass of a ferret, they can be real destructive to furniture, walls, etc.
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I had a couple of ferrets back in the day. Very sneaky little buggers that loved to steal anything that was bolted down or hung out of reach. I was left searching for the insoles of my shoes on more than one occasion. They were great little pets but definitely were a handful between maintenance and just daily playtime.
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Took us a long time to "ferret-proof" the house. They have about 100 sq feet in the living room in a "corral" that they can't squeeze through or climb over. Full of toys, food and water bowls. Never lock them in a cage or crate. Free roam in the evening for 2-3 hours with us.
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Taking care of a German Shepard that got sprayed on the head and washed it thoroughly with Dawn and 30 minutes later brought the dog in the house and asked the owners if they could smell anything, -nada! That stuff works if you really rub a good amount in with a lot of water, and don't play at it.
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Penny and I walked up on an entire family of them this spring. I happen to have a side-by-side shotgun in my hands, 28 gauge. I got three with two barrels. Penny didn’t see them.
I think the innards shots, don’t allow them to spray very well. At least from my experience. I think they all try to spray. It’s all they have.
Nice pics.
Mike
I think the innards shots, don’t allow them to spray very well. At least from my experience. I think they all try to spray. It’s all they have.
Nice pics.
Mike
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Dawn dish soap, paroxyde and baking soda is the cure for getting rid of the oil. Caught a family of them living under our concrete front porch as the smell was getting through the foundation into the basement. Plastic wrapped live trap worked great. Paracord attached to the door for a distance release at the river access near by. The little bum wouldn't come out so I had to tilt the trap by hand to shake it out. Up close that oil is nasty.
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I've also heard all kinds of concoctions for destinking. The one that stuck with me was one of the few things I retained through way too many organic chemistry classes. Baking soda + hydrogen peroxide + dishsoap, mixed right before use.I usually stick to shooting them around 100 yards, about half tend to spray regardless of where you shoot them. It's the kind of stink that sticks around for days. I've never gotten sprayed myself but have known someone who has and they played hell getting the stink off. I've heard of all types of strange remedies right down to bathing in tomato juice.Few days ago I was out for a night adventure and came across one as I turned the corner of a building, I almost shot it but then my intuition took over and realized he was a bit to close, like 15'....if Marley or I got sprayed I don't think mamma would be to happy about us returning home let alone transferring the stink into my Jeep. Haha It's a hard pass for me sometimes. Apparently they make excellent pets...not sure if that's true or not. Can you imagine an intruder breaking in and getting Skunked! What did he look like? IDK officer but he's gonna stink for distance.
Kinda cool chemical reaction....the "stink" in chemically due to a functional thiol group, hanging on to a larger and typical conglomeration of carbons and hydrogens. The thiol is just a sulfur/hydrogen group. The SH group acts a lot like an alcohol, or oxygen/hydrogen group. Which all makes sense, since sulfur tends to stink, usually like rotten eggs, but when in the skunk compound, well it stinks like skunk. Anyway, that baking soda/hydrogen peroxide combo with soap and water (the soap is mostly a vehicle, the water, also a universal solvent and dilution agent) creates a chemical reaction, breaking the sulfur/hydrogen bonds to "break" the stink.
The couple winters I trapped and sold the furs we were always getting the dang skunks in our traps. Shot a bunch of them, head and vitals, all with .22 rimfire. Can't remember one not stinking.
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NEVER head shot a skunk if you don't want it to spray! Before I knew better I shot multiple in the head and every one of them sprayed. Now since I've switched to heart/lung shots I've had much better success. But even a body shot can sometimes trigger them into spraying so always be mindful. Skunks are high up on my "pest" list, so I've taken out a good number of them.
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There is a market for skunk hides, skulls and the essance. They don't spray when euthanized with CO2 that isn't sending a pellet
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Wow, not much white on that Stinker. Lung shots, I'm hearing is best for no spray. Love the Talon P. I love the Donny FL Tatsu on mine, nice, compact and pretty quiet. Mick.
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I've killed 3 skunks with head shots, back of the head... no spray any of those shots....30 FX hybrids.
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