Whenever skunks manage to get into your yard, they can cause a number of problems. It pays to find out how to shoot the skunks that have entered your yard. If you are not able to get rid of the skunk, it can steal food, rip up your plants and flowers and tear your garbage cans as well as eat up your pet's food.
If it comes into contact with domestic pets, skunks can do considerable harm including through transmitting diseases and biting your pets. Here is what you need to know if you are planning on shooting to kill skunks in the yard.
Use a rifle – not a handgun
The first thing you need to keep in mind is when shooting a skunk, you need to rely on a rifle instead of a handgun. Shooting with a rifle increases your chances of killing the skunk quickly and with minimum fuss. More importantly, it also helps to ensure you do not end up harming your neighbors and it is also going to keep you out of trouble with the law. Skunks normally prowl around the yard at dawn as well as at dusk.
So, you will need to exercise patience when waiting for them to show up and if you are a good shot, then you should not have any difficulty in shooting and killing the skunks that have entered your yard. Best of all, when you shoot with a rifle, you will be shooting from close up (relatively) and this will increase your chances of killing the skunk quickly.
Lethal traps
Second, you can also use a lethal trap to kill skunks in your yard. This is a good option and one that does the job well and efficiently. All you need to do is pick a lethal trap that is large and then these dangerous contraptions will kill the skunk quickly. If you want to, you can also think about using snare traps but for that, you need to be experienced as a trapper.
Collateral damage
If you choose this approach, then you have to contend with the fact that these traps can also cause collateral damage to other animals. That is why you need to be very careful and it pays to check the traps periodically to ensure you do not end up killing the wrong animal.
Use poison
Finally, if you want to kill a skunk in your yard, you can think about poisoning it. However, this is not the best method and should be avoided as much as possible because poison kills indiscriminately and can cause harm to other animals as well as perhaps even your children. Also, when you try to poison the skunk in your yard, you are going to adversely affect the biology of your area.
Go back to the New London County wildlife removal home page.