Trapper put a powdered donut in there this morning. It was tempting.
A donut? I hope the next thing you’ll be posting is not that you caught your neighbours’ grandkid.
Fortunately the trap is really out of the way, almost behind our house, and we have no neighbors behind us. The neighbor is the one who’s been texting us when there’s something in there because we can only see it when we walk all the way around our house.
I live in a manufactured home community, and we are lucky enough to have a place with an empty lot behind us. But it’s also why we get so many critters. We’re facing the woods, basically.
So- why the hell are you trapping them- why kill innocent wildlife?
That’s why it’s a live trap, no?
(Plus, of course: kittens! – not that I’d really want to kill the skunk, either. )
We’re not killing them. It’s a humane trap. The trapper is a huge animal lover.
We just want to relocate the skunk. When it first started the smell was so bad I couldn’t eat in my own house.
When you relocate a wild animal, it more often dies.
The dangers of relocation
Although homeowners mean well, wild animals do not “settle in” quickly to new surroundings, no matter how inviting that habitat may seem to humans. In fact, the odds are heavily stacked against any animal who is dumped in a strange park, woodland or other natural area.
A 2004 study of grey squirrels who were live-trapped and relocated from suburban areas to a large forest showed that a staggering 97 % of the squirrels either soon died or disappeared from their release area. Take it from the animals’ point of view:
Do you have an alternative solution to relocating the skunk?
Trapping doesn’t kill, necessarily. It could. But that’s not the aim.
Wild animals can do much damage under a Manufactured home.
@Spice_Weasel , y’all need to block ways they get in. If you can. Some dig under any underpinning. Or around vents and holes where AC stuff goes in.
Make sure there is no food. Wire off places so it doesnt get under the house- ect. or just read the cite, where solutions are offered.
We just live with the wildlife in this home. if we see a skunk, we just close the windows.
Yep.
Closing windows won’t help if the skunk is underneath your house and sprayed.
It’s a wonder all she had was what she had.
I know people who’ve had to leave their house after pulling all the under pinning out to let air get to it.
$$pricey clean up.
We’ve blocked all of the ways but one entrance, by mixing dirt with cayenne pepper, because I don’t want to trap the poor fellow under there.
I’m beginning to think it’s a moot point. The smell is fading. I’m beginning to think he’s not there any more.
I’m going to try the newspaper trick and see if he moves it. The hole he dug is enormous.
Fortunately, we have a real house, not a fabricated one.
We thought we had a rotting animal stuck in our vent. The smell was everywhere and it didn’t smell like typical skunk smell. It smelled like death.
The animal guy checked out all the vents, all under the house, and told us we’ve got a skunk.
That’s insulting.
All houses are fabricated. Manufactured houses are perfectly normal housing for millions of families.
My house is awesome TBH. It’s about 2000 square feet and I have a giant garden tub, a huge master bedroom and a large walk-in closet. Stuff I’d never be able to afford in a standard home.
My husband and I both agree if we could just move this thing to a plot of land and build a basement, we’d be happy. But in the long run we do hope to purchase a… whatever you want to call it.
We’ve looked into installing fencing underground around the perimeter but it would cost thousands of dollars that are currently being spent on my son’s medical bills.
I went to my son’s neighborhood. Well, rural neighborhood. Lotsa room between homes. Two of the families down the road put in these really nice Manufactured homes.
I mean really nice. I suspect they are very expensive.
Son said the inside had all premium surfaces and fittings, built ins and big rooms.
I lived in what’s called a trailer in college with two other girls, now that was a crap hole. Little aluminum box. I could touch opposite walls standing in the middle my room.
Manufactured homes are not trailer homes.
Yeah, people don’t really grok the difference unless they’ve been inside one. And this is a beautiful community. Lots of trees and the neighbors take really good care of their lots, planting their own flowers and really creating beautiful gardens. I wish I had that skill.
We moved here because my husband’s family owned the place and his dad was the property manager. He got us a deal and my husband wasn’t quite licensed yet we really weren’t ready to buy a house. We’re Millennials after all. We stayed longer than planned. Now before we move my son has to be done with therapy, because the place is only seven minutes away and we already played the game of having therapy all over town, it was exhausting. We love the therapy place. So we stay.
And then I guess we buy a house. But we don’t even know where yet because it depends on both special Ed and gifted programs at the school districts.
We’re a lot more privileged than many people who live here, but there are a lot of nice people around here - some lunatics, but you always get that. Really not a bad place to live at all.
Moderating
This is fairly rude, please watch insults like “real” house. I’m going to ask you to refrain from posting any further in this thread. I think that would be best for everyone.
Your son has only known that house.
How will moving affect him, with his Autism?
We made a couple of moves when my children young. Neuro-typical.
They were affected. Sleeps disturbed and cranky.
Moving house is ranked almost as high as a death in the stress and anxiety it causes.