It's always a surprise when you catch something in a trap that you weren't expecting. Last year we put out 2 have a heart traps to try and catch the groundhog that was digging under our back deck. One trap was near the deck and the other near the woodpile. Well, we caught a critter - a skunk! At least it was near the woodpile and away from the house. We had no idea what to do.

I called a local pest control service company to see if they handled the removal of critters. They no longer did, but gave me a phone number for someone who could advise us. They guy told me what to do over the phone.

Hubby and I were on a mission. We took a large tarp, and early in the morning quietly walked over to the cage and quietly draped the tarp over the cage. As advised, we waited until late in the day when the sun was going down to release our captive. We were told that skunks sleep during the day and the skunk would be kind of sluggish when the time came to release it. Quietly, hubby approached the cage and gently propped the cage door open with a large stick. Then slowly removed the tarp.

The skunk was facing the opposite direction of the cage door and slowly turned himself around and waddled out of the cage. He was obviously a bit disorientated (good) at first, but then got his bearings and quickly scampered off into the woods that ran behind the house.

We were very lucky. It all could have been a disaster if that critter had decided to spray. Now we just put up with the groundhogs.

You gotta be careful around skunks...one time one was in the henhouse munching eggs. Of course, near sighted me, i thought it was my black and white cat Pirate and There I am , talking to him while I collect eggs and then I realize...hey, wait a minnit..... I do NOT remember my feet touching the ground between the henhouse and the deck about 80 yards away.

Larry your critters are getting bigger lol,..what did you do with it?,..now of course you are wondering just what else is about and thinking big about the bear trap,..i hope there isn't one about.

Jane it surely would have been a disaster if it sprayed,..great solution in releasing it,..i can well imagine you thinking ok caught it but what now lol.

Annie i woke my dog,.. i laughed so much reading your encounter with the skunk,..you could have been destroyed.

The Skunk Song.
Song,..Dead Skunk In The Middle Of The Road.

I take the critters out where there are vast areas of woods and turn them loose, this time I went a little further than I did with the returning O'possum. I think he was back in the garden last night, I went down expecting to see no digging, and surprise...still a digger of some kind around.

I thought i was bad with slugs and snails not forgetting greenfly plus the occasional blackbird knocking moss off my dry wall,..it must be an never ending battle with all the various types of critters you encounter there.