We have a sick critter (skunk) in our garden shed.

[Redstone]

It's full dark now, and he hasn't come out. He's been hiding in the back behind some storage containers. When I move one of the containers, he just scoots behind the other one and doesn't even look at me.

Since it's dark and I don't want to leave the shed doors open (because the raccoons will tear him up), I put some chicken feed and some bread and a bowl of water in the shed in case he's still mobile...I sure hope that when I open the shed in the morning, I'll see the water gone and have to jump back while he strolls out.

If not, the least I can do is let him go easy, without the coons tearing at him.

Redstone

[skygazer]

1. Skunks often carry rabies

I love critters but you might want to call animal control. It's the season.

[Redstone]

2. I know. We had a rabid skunk in the yard last summer. But if this one

has rabies, he's in the last (listless) stage and will be dead in a day or two. And I don't want the cops to come and shoot him if he's just old and weary. He doesn't look like a young skunk.

Redstone

[Quakerfriend]

3. Wow, Redstone, you are pretty brave.

and, btw, I never knew that racoons would go after a skunk. Is this just because he's old, or is this something they do anyway?

[Redstone]

4. I'm damn good with animals. There's a skunk (I sure hope it's not

this guy) who walks past me every night while I'm sitting on the side steps and reading. I toss him a balled-up piece of bread and we have a little chat while he's eating it, and then he goes on his way.

I don't know if raccoons usually attack skunks or not, but they're vicious bastards and I wouldn't put it past them.

If the skunk is indeed healthy, and just shy, he's got food and water for overnight and can come out in the morning. If not, at least he can die in peace.

Redstone

[YellowRubberDuckie]

9. Animal Whisperer, huh?

You have a big heart. You rock! Thank you for feeding the animals and acknowledging they are there.
Duckie

[Redstone]

13. Thank you. I only give my buddy a little snack; I don't want to have an

actual skunk-feeding program. But we do throw all the stale bread out for the squirrels & birds (in the morning, so it's not there at night to attract the damn raccoons), and give the birds seed in the winter.

You like critters? I'll try to get a picture of the momma turkey and her 11 chicks when they parade through the yard tomorrow. I let our son learn a good lesson yesterday when he said he wanted to catch one of the chicks to keep as a pet. I told him: Go ahead, but keep on your toes. When momma turkey charged him, he learned a good lesson about messing with baby wildlife. Never saw him run so fast before.

Redstone

[YellowRubberDuckie]

18. I am absolutely insanely in love with animals.

I love the innocence of wildlife and instinct. Pics would be Great...Thanks!
Duckie

[Redstone]

19. Will do if I can. The chicks are about the size of robins, and cuter

than all hell.

Redstone

[havocmom]

29. Friend of mine says he saw a pair of raccoons lure a dog into water

Was NOT a happy ending for the dog.

[Catchawave]

5. You sound like a very compassionate person

I admire that in a DUer :hi:

Good luck with your little critter, just be careful.

[Redstone]

7. Thank you. I like critters. Not enough to be a vegetarian, but

I do like them.

Our chicken retired from egg production over a year ago, so now she's living the carefree life (as chicken lives go). She's not going into the pot.

Redstone

[Whoa_Nelly]

6. Skunks are usually nocturnal

Skunks that seem tame or listless and wander about during daylight hours should be treated with great caution because this behavior is symptomatic of rabies. Also, if they exhibit no fear of people or pets and show some aggressive behavior, chances are quite high that they are rabid.
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74118.html

SKUNK AND FOX RABIES: While dumb rabies is common in dogs, it is rarely seen in wildlife. However, it does occur in foxes. A skunk or fox with rabies loses all fear of man. They travel about in the daytime and usually attack anything that moves. Skunks with rabies have two interesting peculiarities:



1. 90% will not spray even when cornered by man or dog.

2. Regardless of sex, they will try to mother a litter of puppies or kittens. Invariably they will nip one or more of the litter thus transmitting the disease to these highly susceptible animals.
http://mdc.mo.gov/landown/wild/nuisance/rabies/


And a very informative site Re: skunks
(rabies, how to force them to move out of an area, and more)
http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06500.html


In every article I read online, skunks are among the highest groups that carry rabies, with some even born with rabies, and a higher incidence among juvenile skunks.

[Redstone]

8. Yes, that's why you can't buy a descented skunk for a pet in this state.

Rabies has been a problem in skunks here for 30 years.

We had an aggressive rabid one in the yard last year, and had to have it shot. But since this one isn't aggressive, I'll just let it go quietly.

Besides, it would make a mess inside the shed to shoot it in there.

Edit: I forgot to thank your for the information. Thank you for taking the time to look that stuff up.

Redstone

[Whoa_Nelly]

12. No prob :-) Glad to do it!

Just take care, dearheart :loveya:

[Redstone]

15. Thanks for your concern; I won't get bitten. Will put on the cowboy boots

(the old pair, not the Tony Lamas) before opening the shed in the morning. Don't think he'll be able to bite through those.

Redstone

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. You have a big heart, my dear Redstone.........

And thanks to your compassion, this skunk will have a safe passage.......

Blessings on you.....:hug:

[Redstone]

11. Hey, he never did anything to bother me, and might even be my pal

from the last couple of summers (see above).

Now, if he was going after my son's chicken, like those damn raccoons do, then the gloves would be off...

Redstone

[Flaxbee]

14. Poor little guy. Thank you for being so kind.

I hope he's just weary and/or shy, not ill. Or perhaps as you said he might just be old and tired and looking for a place he can rest undisturbed for a night.

All these creatures are our fellow travelers, why some people feel the need to hassle any one of them doing their daily 'thing' is beyond me.

We need more people like you Redstone (and other DUers) in the world - kind and compassionate, but sure as hell nobody's pushover. And obviously smart enough to when there's no danger, and when there might be.

Let us know how the skunk is tomorrow, will ya?

:hi:

[Redstone]

16. Whoa, too many compliments in one post. I'm blushing.

But thank you.

I'll post an update tomorrow, I promise. DUers are the kind of people who will rally around a sick animal and be concerned about its well-being, aren't they? It's a good crowd here.

Redstone

[Redstone]

17. OK, it seems that raccoons DO go after skunks. I just had to chase

a couple of them away from the shed door.

They can come back later if they want to, but they're NOT going to get into the shed. I made sure of that.

Redstone

[catmother]

20. we have rabbits. last year my husband threw out the core of an

apple to see if they would eat it. they did. now every day we slice up 3 apples and the bunnies and prairie dogs and some birds come and eat. last week we counted 13 bunnies. it was like a convention. after they eat they hang around and play with each other.

last week i went out to put some apples out and there was a bunny laying on his side on my patio. usually they'll run a little when the door opens. he didn't move. i started talking to him. no response. i put my hand on his little belly to feel if he was breathing. he wasn't. i picked up each little paw and pet his head. riga had not set in yet.

when my husband came home i showed him. he said "what should i do with him"? i said "he's already dead; put him out in the desert for the coyotes. it's one less rabbit that they will kill". so that's what he did. he gently carried him in a paper towel and put him into the desert.

later on, my husband said that he was honored that the bunny chose our patio to die -- that he felt safe there.

we love all animals.

you're a good guy redstone.

[Jamastiene]

38. I love watching the rabbits in my back yard play with each other.

One will run toward the other one at full force and the other one will jump just in time, then they'll switch. They take turns jumping and running toward each other. It's so cute. I love to watch them play.

[catmother]

39. yes. they are. my little backyard is a playground. we live on

2-1/2 acres in the middle of the desert. so we just cleared enough out for the house and a little area in the front and in the back. planted some desert plants. we have javelinas come through too. there very destructive. they'll take a prickly pear cactus and just take a bite out of it and then leave it. but we don't really mind. they were here before we were.

[Jamastiene]

40. I understand your position on that completely.

They constantly have "problems" with bears and other wild animals wondering into people's yards west of the Charlotte area about 100 miles west of where I live. Those "problems" come from the fact that they keep building housing divisions in what was once forested land, i.e. the wildlife's homes are being destroyed by those people. I wish they saw things the way we do. The animals are running out of places to exist because some people don't think they should have to learn to coexist with the animals whose homes they have just destroyed. It's sad. I love watching the wildlife too much to feel the way they do.

[bertha katzenengel]

21. You're a good man, Redstone

:pals:

[hedgehog]

22. I hate to say it, but it sounds like rabies.

The other bad news is that when skunks die, they automatically release their weapon. I had a skunk in my chicken house a few years back. I figured it was stealing eggs but it didn't spray me even though I almost stepped on it, twice. I finally got out the garden hose to try and chase it out of there. When it just sat there, I finally realized that I was looking at dumb rabies. County health was out to remove it (with a gun) within an hour after I called.

I'd call county health in the morning. A quick death would be kinder than letting the beast die of rabies and it's safer all around.

[Redstone]

23. Noted and remembered. I'd not want the skunk to suffer needlessly.

Thank you.

Redstone

[bluethruandthru]

24. What a kind man!

Thank you for thinking of the animals welfare and not just how to get rid of it. Be careful and let us know what happens.

[MiniMandaRuth]

25. This may not add much to the thread,

but skunks are pretty cute.

Good on you for trying to make him more comfortable. He just may be on his last legs.

[Redstone]

26. They're great pets too, if you can buy a descented one. Unfortunately,

they only live about three years, even if kept as pets.

Redstone

[hedgehog]

27. We've had our share of animal adventures over the years.

The two opossums that were in my chicken house last year could give your raccoons a run for their money. I thought they were egg eaters too, until they chowed down on a hen! We gave them a nice ride across the river. (No really, my husband and son caught them in a garbage can and drove over the bridge to put them in a field by the county airport.) Two of my best cats ever just walked in one day as did my good old dog. But I gotta say, rabies is as scary as hell. Be very careful.

[Generic Brad]

28. That stinks!

Sorry, Redstone. While I do have sympathy for the poor creature, I couldn't resist saying something stupid.

[XemaSab]

30. If he dies

Call animal control to come get the carcass.

A colleague of a colleague got rabies from a dead fox. :O

[matcom]

31. I don't believe you can have skunks and racoons at the same time

:shrug:

i've always thought if you had one, you didn't have the other as they are enemies.

we have skunks and no racoons. my sister-in-law (one town over) has racoons but never a skunk

[skygazer]

33. We have both here

We have many raccoons - they hang out on my deck at times and peek through the windows - and a mama skunk who has babies every year lives under one of the outbuildings. Baby skunks are the cutest animals on the planet. Their mom is pretty relaxed about us because she's been here for several seasons - even the cats don't take much notice of her or she of them. And the babies will romp right up to me and nibble on the toes of my shoes! Which is why I've never gotten a photo of them - they get too close.

[Midlodemocrat]

32. You are such a compassionate man, Redstone.

Hopefully the little skunk will go quietly and peacefully.

[Taverner]

34. Arent they nocturnal?

Maybe that's just possums :shrug:

[hedgehog]

35. So what happened to the skunk?

Did I tell you about the time my husband was working on a car in the barn and absently patted a cat that rubbed past him? It took several seconds for him to realize that we don't have any black cats with white stripes! You wouldn't believe the proposals he came up with for getting the skunk to leave. A handful of mothballs tossed in under the parked cars did the trick. Skunks tend to be good neighbors - they eat the grubs out of the lawn.

[bluethruandthru]

36. Any update on the skunk? n/t

[Redstone]

37. Anyone who is still wondering, go here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5416690

All worked out well.

Mr Stinky thanks you for your concern.

Redstone