Striped Skunks?

[sak1782]

How many of you shoot them on sight who live out in the country, and how many just let them go. I personally have dogs, and they go nuts anytime something is coming up the driveway, or in my yard at night. Tonight I went out after they freaked out, and when turning the front yard lights on, saw a Striped Skunk scammering away. I had my 22 with, an put a single shot into the back of its head at about 30yds or so. They are supposedly one of the top carriers of rabies in MN, although I would guess that bats/rodents would have to be up there as well.

Either way, I personally shoot them all whenever I have a gun with, and have a clear shot.

[smurfman]

I do the same. Bats are a more frequent carrier of rabies than skunks in MN but skunks tend to get into more trouble whether carrying rabies or not. Between problems with the dogs, chickens, and digging up the lawn I put down skunks where and when I find them. In my opinion, the only good a skunk does is feed Great Horned Owls.

[Heffay]

[yukonjasper]

Agree with you on the skunks. We had a DNR and a Fed Wildlife Management guy out to some property we own in the Western part of the state. General topic was how do we make our land more useful for duck and pheasant reproduction and generally higher quality for all other useful species. The answer was to take up varmint and preadator hunting. The populations are out of control because not enough people do it anymore. We were encouraged to shoot skunk, racoon, feral cats, coyotes and fox. All of those animals will raid pheasant and duck nests and generally strip an area of beneficial animal species. The balance is out of whack.

[cobb]

Many years ago I read a study on game bird mortality or success. The study showed the in similar conditions such as habitat and weather, that racoons, possum and skunks are much harder on the game bird population like ducks, pheasants, grouse, etc. than fox and coyotes are.

[smurfman]

Leaving coyotes alone is actually beneficial as they are pretty effective at suppressing small predator numbers, especially those of cats which are very hard on ground bird and animal numbers. Fox come in second in ground bird predation mostly due to their lower numbers when compared to cats. These two rank high as they often take the adult on the nest as well as young and/or eggs. Skunks and raccoons take a large number of nests but are less apt to catch the adults on the nest due to their hunting habits. That allows for potential renesting attempts.

A coyote is a rather poor predator of adult ground birds and their hunting style is not as conducive to finding nests as the styles of other predators. Their size is also a detriment to their catching of adult birds. They can do a number on nests in limited strip type covers but then so do all the other predator types. This is a tough concept for many to grasp but it will help game bird numbers. If the habitat is there.

[xd ED]

Leaving coyotes alone is actually beneficial as they are pretty effective at suppressing small predator numbers, especially those of cats which are very hard on ground bird and animal numbers. Fox come in second in ground bird predation mostly due to their lower numbers when compared to cats. These two rank high as they often take the adult on the nest as well as young and/or eggs. Skunks and raccoons take a large number of nests but are less apt to catch the adults on the nest due to their hunting habits. That allows for potential renesting attempts.

A coyote is a rather poor predator of adult ground birds and their hunting style is not as conducive to finding nests as the styles of other predators. Their size is also a detriment to their catching of adult birds. They can do a number on nests in limited strip type covers but then so do all the other predator types. This is a tough concept for many to grasp but it will help game bird numbers. If the habitat is there.

I believe your last sentence has far more to do with any animal/ game population than the natural predator/ prey relationship.
Decreased habitat not only removes shelter/nesting habitat, it has caused predators to adapt their hunting to focus on those reduced areas that support their prey.
While this does cause some predators to drive out other predators, the overall effect on the prey species is detrimental.

[Heffay]

Or, you can let nature take its course. Live and let live. The predators won't outgrow their food source.

[JJ]

Or, you can let nature take its course. Live and let live. The predators won't outgrow their food source.

Piss on that. If we just let nature have it's way, there would be no pheasants anyways.

On our hunting lands, feral cats, coons, skunks, and possums are shoot on sight. Whenever we are down at the farm, there are traps in culverts and around the farmsteads.

It's not just about protecting game animals. it's also about preventing our dogs from getting tied up with any of the above. Vet bills are expensive.

[Heffay]

Or, you can let nature take its course. Live and let live. The predators won't outgrow their food source.

Piss on that. If we just let nature have it's way, there would be no pheasants anyways.

On our hunting lands, feral cats, coons, skunks, and possums are shoot on sight. Whenever we are down at the farm, there are traps in culverts and around the farmsteads.

It's not just about protecting game animals. it's also about preventing our dogs from getting tied up with any of the above. Vet bills are expensive.

Someone once posted on this forum a scientific article that showed shooting the pests does nothing to reduce their populations. If you want to actually affect them, you have to actively trap.

I guess if it makes you *feel* better when you shoot them, go ahead. I'm going to live by the rule "you eat what you kill."

[JJ]

Or, you can let nature take its course. Live and let live. The predators won't outgrow their food source.

Piss on that. If we just let nature have it's way, there would be no pheasants anyways.

On our hunting lands, feral cats, coons, skunks, and possums are shoot on sight. Whenever we are down at the farm, there are traps in culverts and around the farmsteads.

It's not just about protecting game animals. it's also about preventing our dogs from getting tied up with any of the above. Vet bills are expensive.

Someone once posted on this forum a scientific article that showed shooting the pests does nothing to reduce their populations. If you want to actually affect them, you have to actively trap.

I guess if it makes you *feel* better when you shoot them, go ahead. I'm going to live by the rule "you eat what you kill."

Then you will never enjoy the fun of heading out after prairie dogs.

And you are absolutely right, shooting them alone will do little to nothing. We have active yotes, and fox in our area. In the past six years we have only actually seen 4-5 yotes, and 2 fox. We know they are there, but they are not active during daylight. Yet trapping has taken care of a few more than we have ever had a chance at shooting.

And let's be real. Of the varmints i listed above, the feral cat is likely does the most damage.
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/scbi/migrator ... cfm?id=128
http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/live/ec1781/build/ec1781.pdf

Predation by cats on birds has an estimated economic impact of more than $17 billion dollars per year in the U.S.

[xd ED]

Or, you can let nature take its course. Live and let live. The predators won't outgrow their food source.

Piss on that. If we just let nature have it's way, there would be no pheasants anyways.

On our hunting lands, feral cats, coons, skunks, and possums are shoot on sight. Whenever we are down at the farm, there are traps in culverts and around the farmsteads.

It's not just about protecting game animals. it's also about preventing our dogs from getting tied up with any of the above. Vet bills are expensive.

Someone once posted on this forum a scientific article that showed shooting the pests does nothing to reduce their populations. If you want to actually affect them, you have to actively trap.

I guess if it makes you *feel* better when you shoot them, go ahead. I'm going to live by the rule "you eat what you kill."

The topic animal of the teapping vs shooting was specifically coyotes. And how does 'nature' take its course in the agricultural areas of MN where pheasants are not indigenous, but rather Asian imports.
Like it or not, every critter on earth is managed to one end or another, frequently by those with conflicting interests, and goals.


ETA:

'm going to live by the rule "you eat what you kill."[


Really? How do you prepare wood ticks, mice, mosquitoes?

[Heffay]

Then you will never enjoy the fun of heading out after prairie dogs.

I don't think I could enjoy hunting prairie dogs at all. That just seems like the worst type of hunting. Killing for the sake of killing. Like the videos of those duck poachers down in Louisiana who shoot hundreds of ducks just to shoot them, then let them rot.

[Heffay]

Like it or not, every critter on earth is managed to one end or another, frequently by those with conflicting interests, and goals.

Managing coyotes through trapping is fine. Just shooting one that you see isn't managing.

[JJ]

Then you will never enjoy the fun of heading out after prairie dogs.

I don't think I could enjoy hunting prairie dogs at all. That just seems like the worst type of hunting. Killing for the sake of killing. Like the videos of those duck poachers down in Louisiana who shoot hundreds of ducks just to shoot them, then let them rot.

Leftist hippy