killed my first skunk

[Sillyshells]

I have never killed an animal before and this was pretty devestating for me. It has been messing around my coop for the fast few day's. It went as far to dig rocks away from around the run. My husband had me practice with a 22? It was a single load small rifle looking thing.
It took three shots now what to do with the smell?
Uhggggggg. It sprayed about 10 feet from my back door on the grass.
Well I guess I must have proved myself or made my husband feel bad because I was crying to him on the phone last night while he was at work that it took to long for it to die. at least 2 minutes. and three shot's. Not to mention trying to site between tears.
He brought me home a reuger(SP?) 10/22 with beautiful wood in multy colors and a pink case. I guess even through my histerics on the phone he was thrilled.

 

[bobbi-j]

Good for you! I have never felt bad about killing a skunk. They are a serious rabies threat where I live. My friend and her family had to kill their dog and all their cats when her kids were young because a rabid skunk got into a litter of kittens (they eat them), and the mama cat got into a fight with it. Several days later, the daughter (5th grade) saw a skunk walking around in circles in an old shed. It was killed, taken in to be tested for rabies and tested positive. They were then advised to bring in one of the cats to be tested. It, too, was positive. The whole family had to go through the rabies vaccine series. Mom, dad, 5th grader, 1st grader and 4 year old. It was pretty traumatic for them. Keep practicing with that gun - next time it will only take one shot.

 

[koop]

Hey good for you, you did what needed to be done.

A Ruger 10/22, thats a classic rimfire rifle, I should buy one for my wife but pinks not her color..........

A skunk is a small target, a one shot kill isn't an easy shot, the last skunk I killed I use the full 10 shot magizine in the 22 then one shot with the shot gun for good measure. But it was at night, and it was in a hard place to see behind a door leaning up behind the garage with a lilac bush in front. My headlamp didn't give good shooting light.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

This happened to me a few weeks ago (killed my first animal ever, a skunk) - and I cried too. You'll get over it and know you did the right thing for your chickens. I know it doesn't feel right now, but it feels better than finding your chickens injured.

I can't help with yard smell clean up, but if you have it on your clothes or body I found Fels Naptha laundry soap to work the best. I tried some of the other remedies: baking soda and vinegar with dawn liquid dishwasher detergent, but it didn't even come close to Fels Naptha. I found it in my local grocery store in the cleaning aisle, no one else had it. It's a bar so you'll need to use a grater to use it in laundry.

 

[ADozenGirlz]

We trapped and killed our first SIX predators this week (4 raccoons, an opossum and a skunk). I thought we just had one problem raccoon (we actually witnessed him killing one of our chicks) but as it turns out, there are many more than we imagined. The raccoons were HUGE. We tried a pellet gun with the opossum, but that didn't dispatch him quickly enough. So, all the rest of them remained in the live trap and we covered it with a tarp, a big sheet of contractor's plastic and an old bedspread, then used a drain pipe, which we attached to the exhaust of the car by wrapping it with aluminum foil. Twenty minutes later, they were asleep and gone for good. No drama, no mess.

You could try tomato juice for the smell.

This trap is a 42 inch trap. This guy was the biggest:

This one was the smallest, but first one we caught:

 

[moetrout]

I've trapped and had to dispatch many varmints. Even if you shoot them right between the eyes they will still flop around for a while. The animal is dead and it's just nerves and muscles doing all this. I usually put 2-3 rounds right in the head and I still get that type of reaction. You most likely had it on the first shot, but 1 or 2 more for good measure is the right thing to do.

As for the smell. the next time you "think" you're going to shoot a skunk be ready for it. Have a large bucket of dirt ready to throw on top of it so when it sprays it is contained. You can then shovel up the dirt and be rid of most of that smell. Since you have it on your lawn I can only suggest some things that might work. The first thing that comes to mind is to load up your pump sprayer with tomato juice and spray it down. It was proven on Myth Busters that tomato juice does in fact work. The other thing I "think" they said worked was baking soda.