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In the last couple weeks I've seen well over a dozen skunks wandering around in broad daylight. This is not evening or early morning but from 10 AM to about 4 PM. Twice it was a family group which I can understand but the others were singles, mostly adults.

This has occurred in various places ranging from the metro suburbs to very rural areas. Is food that scarce? Hard to believe as skunks eat about everything but I've been having more raccoons around so maybe. I haven't seen an inordinate number flattened on the roads either which further makes me doubt food problems. When observing them the skunks acted normally so I highly doubt a disease of some sort and I am not interested enough to collect the carcasses and send them in to be tested.

The good thing is my dogs haven't found them before me -so far- but that is only a matter of time.

What part of the Metro?
Places with a lot of new home construction can see population redistribution as wooded areas become housing additions.

yukonjasper wrote:What part of the Metro?
Places with a lot of new home construction can see population redistribution as wooded areas become housing additions.

This has been a growing problem ever since we introduced leash laws.

jdege wrote:

yukonjasper wrote:What part of the Metro?
Places with a lot of new home construction can see population redistribution as wooded areas become housing additions.

This has been a growing problem ever since we introduced leash laws.

As opposed to the problem that involves a ton of ineffective tomato juice

jdege wrote:

yukonjasper wrote:What part of the Metro?
Places with a lot of new home construction can see population redistribution as wooded areas become housing additions.

This has been a growing problem ever since we introduced leash laws.

The end of loose dogs has made my little urban haven, (on the eastern end of St Paul proper) quite different. I am surrounded by a modest patch of undeveloped land, and within a few weeks of my dog passing I started seeing deer tracks..and the results of their browsing in my yard. Recently at times there as been a resident population on my property

To the observation about skunks... while I rarely see them, I do smell one every now and then. But the big change in my area has been an explosion in the racoon population this spring - I've counted at least 10 kits in various trees the last few nights. Also now have a family of red fox for the first time ever.
In the past, there has been a coyote population in the area, but both they, and the deer seem to have declined in the past year) I've has as many as 4 yotes outside my back door at one timd

xd ED wrote:

jdege wrote:

yukonjasper wrote:What part of the Metro?
Places with a lot of new home construction can see population redistribution as wooded areas become housing additions.

This has been a growing problem ever since we introduced leash laws.

The end of loose dogs has made my little urban haven, (on the eastern end of St Paul proper) quite different. I am surrounded by a modest patch of undeveloped land, and within a few weeks of my dog passing I started seeing deer tracks..and the results of their browsing in my yard. Recently at times there as been a resident population on my property

To the observation about skunks... while I rarely see them, I do smell one every now and then. But the big change in my area has been an explosion in the racoon population this spring - I've counted at least 10 kits in various trees the last few nights. Also now have a family of red fox for the first time ever.
In the past, there has been a coyote population in the area, but both they, and the deer seem to have declined in the past year) I've has as many as 4 yotes outside my back door at one timd

Yotes will take care of the coons, of course then you need some wolves

Holland&Holland wrote:
Yotes will take care of the coons, of course then you need some wolves

I do kinda miss them.
There seems to be more cats as well, ...feral or otherwise since the yotes aren't around.

What happened to them? They seem to do well with humans around.

I assume you are in areas not conducive to culling via trigger time activities?

yukonjasper wrote:I assume you are in areas not conducive to culling via trigger time activities?

‘Conducive’ may be the operative word. In the city proper, and I believe Ramsey Cty prohibits any hunting. Most of my neighbors seem to be oblivious to any nocturnal creatures. I haven’t taken any steps against them.

I've found air rifles with heavy ammo to stay sub sonic to be very helpful with the resident rabbit population. I'm not sure the upper limit of a clean kill on larger/harder targets.

I'm suspicious of a hole in the backyard.....I'm thinking probably a woodchuck. Need to set out a trail camera to know for sure.

Good luck and be careful or be stinky.....

yukonjasper wrote:I've found air rifles with heavy ammo to stay sub sonic to be very helpful with the resident rabbit population. I'm not sure the upper limit of a clean kill on larger/harder targets.

I'm suspicious of a hole in the backyard.....I'm thinking probably a woodchuck. Need to set out a trail camera to know for sure.

Good luck and be careful or be stinky.....

I don’t think I have ever experienced a supersonic air rifle shot. I assume you hear it break the sound barrier, how does it compare to a rifle crack?

Not sure where my second post disappeared to, my iPad has been sending them into Never Never Land on occasion.

As to where I've been seeing skunks, it is all over from Blaine/ Ham Lake to the Wisconsin border plus northern Pine County and southern Carlton Co. Just today I dispatched a family of 4 in Pine Co and a single one between Scandia and Lindstrom. If safe and legal to do so, I seldom pass a chance on these creatures.

I think distemper may have hit the coyotes in much of the Metro, I've seen far fewer of them this year than the norm. It goes with the increases in raccoons, skunks, and cats I've seen running around or dead on the road. A couple years after my neighbor died, his barn cats increased to over 100 and it was common to hear a screech from a cat just after a coyote would cut loose with its chase cry. The renter finally got tired of the cats and eliminated close to 90 of them one day. Couple that with the bunch I took and some seen on the road and it was small wonder there weren't any birds or small mammals around.

I have a 177 caliber springer air rifle that is said to get 1200 fps with alloy pellets. I use standard lead so get a lot less velocity but it does have a pretty sharp report and a squirrel or other pest moves a lot faster after a miss than they do with the 22 cal pneumatic that runs 650 fps.

Some of the PCP air guns are powerful enough to use on deer and hogs. Missouri and a couple other states, plus maybe Wisconsin, allow their use on deer and most places with pigs allow their use too. My first introduction to these guns was finding a box of Nosler bullets in .357". The box was marked, "For air rifles only" which seemed strange at the time. Had to look it up and discovered PCP air guns. I haven't delved into them yet but I did meet a guy who hunts with them. As he lives in WI, I guessed that these guns are legal there. They do cost as much as a standard firearm not counting the pump or whatever is used to charge the rifle.