Fountain & Cherry

Hi Trevor,
Our neighborhood is crawling with them. On Saturday morning, I saw one sauntering down the sidewalk…at 10:00 a.m.!
Laura

I hope that they are not ill. We had a distempered skunk a few years ago that terrorized me (kept trying to get into the house and I couldn’t use the door) until Critter Control took it away. Apparently the disease causes them to come out during the day, though they are usually reliably nocturnal.

The skunks in our neighborhood do not seem to be sick. Everyone I’ve talked to says they’ve seen skunks during the day around here. It’s many skunks, as they have different markings.

The one I saw about 6:30 am the other day in our back yard was black with a white spot on its head and one on its tail. Yesterday’s was at about 4:30 pm, two thick white stripes down the whole body. They are not aggressive, and seem to be just rooting around for food. They hardly notice when there are people around. I’m glad our cats are indoor cats!

From the Merck Veterinary Manual:

“Rabid raccoons and skunks typically show no fear of humans and are ataxic, frequently aggressive, and active during the day, despite their often crepuscular nature. In urban areas, they may attack domestic pets.

In general, rabies should be suspected in terrestrial wildlife acting abnormally. The same is true of bats that can be seen flying in the daytime, resting on the ground, attacking people or other animals, or fighting.”

Could be rabies, could be distemper or listeriosis too; do you want to take a chance? It seems reasonable to call 911 and let the experts figure it out.

For a different perspective, here’s a blog I enjoy from an old retired vet: [link]

I’ve had a recent experience and earlier ones, and 911 can’t help much with wild animals. We had a skunk problem (caught in a live trap meant for a woodchuck) and Critter Control was heavily booked for the rest of the day. So I called the Humane Society, but the group they gave me (Varmint Police) only works in Canton. so then 911 gave me Friends of Wildlife. They rescue sick or injured wildlife, almost anything but skunks. (All volunteers.) Happily, Critter Control came through in spite of their scheduling problems.

We don’t have animal control officers any more, and our sworn police are not really trained to deal with these issues.

Vivienne: I am sure you are right about the lack of basic policing we now have. If need be we may all just have to keep live traps handy to capture whatever may crawl in.

I would have no problem drowning or gassing a suspect animal if there was no other way to get rid of it, trouble is THAT’s when the cops DO show up — to give you a ticket or arrest you for messing with wildlife.

Not sure what would be quicker, or more humane either: Drowning, or a gas like chlorine and ammonia in a bucket next to the cage with a tarp over it?

cosmonican, there are ethical dilemmas for sure. I know that when we transport animals out to a rural spot we are probably diminishing their chances of survival. On the other hand, when they are attacking my foodstuffs (or even my ornamentals), I don’t feel that I owe them a donation.

As I know you know, killing them is against state law, and local law. I also feel some empathy for them as fellow living beings, so it is a salve to my feelings to transport them instead.

We routinely transport woodchucks and chipmunks. (Our squirrels like to get in there and fuss at us as we release them. Never give a squirrel peanut butter. They’ll become addicted. One kept going into the cage though he knew the consequences.) I generally release raccoons – though our storm sewers won’t thank me.

I’d shoot deer with nonlethal means if I could, but that is also illegal. I’m happy to see predators, though. We had coyotes for a couple of years and it cleaned out the local rabbits.

Problem is, the lion and the lamb have different agendas.

Vivienne, I agree, but we are presented with a state moving quickly to the past. I can’t be bothered to relocate animals, that’s a fools errand because they will quickly be replaced; and I don’t want to kill anything either. If we are faced with a situation though, with a potentially dangerous animal, and no other means to be sure other than dispatching it, I’ll go with the killing. Atticus Finch? None of us are, but if our government services decay to the level of that era, or worse, then we’ll all be doing that, and burning our trash in the streets and a lot of other dirty unpleasant things that the salad days of the late twentieth century protected us from.

Seems if the government won’t take responsibility, and we have to protect ourselves, then the laws may need to change to meet the present needs.

I have employed those animal removal services you mention too. First: Why pay for a service you are already paying taxes for? Second: They just rent you a trap for triple the cost, then come pick it up after you have baited it and done the work; then they let the animal go somewhere or kill it themselves — why bother?

We started this with skunks. I can’t get my husband to load them into his trunk and 911 can’t help. So people should just avoid animals running around in the daytime, I guess. I once called the DNR with regard to a raccoon that was behaving strangely and the advice was to go inside till he went away.

Well, whatever the outcome, it can’t be as bad as the one the family in that vet’s blog had to deal with! Awesome story! [link]