I didn't want this guy for a neighbor

Living in the country sometimes requires a certain vigilance against unwanted guests. from pulling out bird nests, to mixing safe but toxic insecticides for the box elder bugs, to trapping mice outside, just in case they have thoughts about coming in. This
weekend required a rather complicated eviction of a skunk who tried to move into a hole intended for a concrete support pillar for the deck.

As I walked past the hole, I glanced in as usual to see if any critters found their way in. Several mice have fallen in and drown, and I rescued a frog that couldn't jump high enough to escape. This time a much larger and much smellier critter was down the hole. I suspect he was enlarging it to suit his needs for a home, or maybe he was trapped and figured to dig his way out. In any case I figure differently. It was a gamble, but I decided that a dead skunk was better than a resident skunk and all of the hassle it would be to trap it.


So I popped it with a .22 rifle, then struggled to get him out of the hole with an improvised broom handle snare. A short walk to a shallow grave left only the intense stink to linger for the rest of the day.