The next day we tried again, at 7 pm.
I sat in our car down the street and Bil sat in the lady's house near the door watching the food bowl through the window. Several skunks come to her porch for cat food. He called me on my cell phone - I had it set on vibrate. After a few buzzes, he hung up. This was the signal. I got out of the car with a long handled crab net and tip toed up to the steps where it was eating kibbles. I stood there on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs waiting five or ten minutes until it was done and it started its walk down the stairs.
During this time period I'm waiting there with the net poised and motionless, several cats walk past, one at at time. One even looks at me and meows at me. The skunk freezes in its place by the kibble bowl, then resumes eating. A few minutes later there is a minor cat fight with some cats under a car nearby. A little while after that a neighbor across the street starts yelling, almost screaming at her child or children to stop whatever it is they're doing. Skunky eats away, not in any hurry.
Finally skunky climbs down the four or five stairs to one step from the sidewalk, looks at me, stops and considers me carefully, cautiously, and hesitates for half a minute. Then it hops off that last step and looks suspiciously at me again for a few seconds. Finally, he/she turns his back to me and starts to walk quickly away. It is now far enough away that I can slam down the long handled net over it. I do so. The skunk jumps up! The net come up also off the sidewalk, as I'm not holding the handle but have decided to grab the skunk without considering that the handle and net are now off the ground. The skunk gets out of the net but is slowed down enough so I can fall onto my knees forward and grab the skunk by the lid collar and try to hold its tail down. It sprays my gloves very lightly, but I hold its tail down with left hand. Bil comes down the stairs and cuts the collar off, I put skunky down and it trots away...
Today I have a large bandage on the left knee, and a smaller one on the right knee. THe sidewalk scraped the skin off. The left scrape is oozing, the right one is healing well. I'll know Next Time to wear knee pads and concentrate first on getting the net handle and all down on the sidewalk so the jumping animal can't get away.
Publishing it on WikiHow, here is the link for my technique:
How to Rescue a Skunk from a Container on its Head
from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
Occasionally an animal is suffering from having wandered into a garbage containing a fast food drink lid or other plastic top which, getting stuck on the creature's neck, interferes with it being able to eat. The animal will starve to death slowly without your help.
Steps
- Get a helper". It's best to have a helper. It can be done alone, but it is much more difficult.
- Have all equipment ready'.
- Stand perfectly still without wearing anything that makes any sounds like polyester or nylon material.
- Ditch the aftershave or perfume so the skunk can't smell you.
- Wait until it turns its back to you and is walking away. You will have measured the length of the handle of the net, which is probably four to six feet long. When it is almost that distance from you and moving, slam the net down quickly on the skunk.
- Immediately stand on the handle of the net and quickly go down on your knees to grasp the tail of the skunk in one hand, pulling it down towards the ground while with your other hand grasp the lid around the neck.
- Be prepared for a spray - if you don't get the tail down immediately. If you're holding the tail down, it will stop immediately rather than spray itself. However, a tiny amount of spray will be released unless you are very fast. The scent goes away if you leave the gloves outdoors a few days.
- If you are alone, you'll have to put the skunk between your knees to grab the scissors for removal of the lid. This is why it's best to have a helper who will cut the lid off while you hold the skunk with the tail in one hand and the lid in the other.
- Be prepared for the skunk to attempt to wrap itself around your arm. Wear long sleeves and you'll be fine.
- After the skunk's neck is free, simply put the skunk down and watch him run away, free of the terrible encumbrance.
Tips
- Skunks have an exceptional sense of sound. They don't see too well, but sense motion. They will walk right onto your feet if you don't move and don't make any sound or have any interesting scents on you. Our fear of them is way out of proportion to what they are capable of, and they really need to feel threatened before they will spray. They would rather run away than spray, when given the choice.
Warnings
- Caution: if the skunk shows any signs of rabies such as drooling, etc do not attempt to do this. Skunks rarely bite, but if you get bit you will need rabies series of shots, as the only way to know for sure if it's rabid is to autopsy a dead animal's brain.
Things You'll Need
- supple gloves: leather, suede, or rubber.
- long handled net, a crabber's net
- scissors or snippers to remove the lid
- knee pads to prevent skinned knees if on concrete or asphalt
- newspaper or plastic bag to wrap gloves in if they get sprayed
Related wikiHows
- How to Get a Skunk to Leave
- How to Remove Skunk Smell from Animals
- How to Approach and Release a Skunk from a Live Trap
- How to Care for a Skunk Sprayed Dog
Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Rescue a Skunk from a Container on its Head. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.
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