Critters in the attic

[swampratt]

I have not eaten a skunk ......Yet.
I have talked to them when I encounter them in the woods.
Usually we both see each other at the same time.
Skunk turns around quickly with tail up ready to spray !!!

I tell the skunk if you shoot me I will shoot you back and neither of us will come out a winner.
I then slowly back away as does the skunk.
We both win.

I have been sitting on the ground and watched one meandering along looking for food to eat and I talked to it so it knew where I was.
It looked at me 2 times and I made movement so it knew for a fact I was there and it could have cared less.
10 feet from me and it just kept on it's search, I was not sprayed.

Did have one walking down a road that would not leave the gravel road..30+ yards and it would not move from the middle of the road we were in a truck slowly following about 40 feet behind it honking and telling it to get out of the road.

I finally got out and tossed rocks at it.
It sprayed then left the road.
STINK!!!

 

[okcBob]

Update: Rodent has been liquidated. Soffett air vent repaired. Will continue to monitor. Maybe post a picket line.

 

[John6185]

Nearly every common creature has been mentioned but no one has mentioned Wasps. I have tried those smoke bombs that supposedly kill insects and with all the air vents it was a waste of time. I am highly allergic to Wasps, Hornets etc and literally pass out when stung and one time after bing stung, my BP dropped to 60/40 before the wife gave me the anaphylaxis shot. So now I avoid those flying things and they can have the attic in the summer and I take over in the winter after they die! I get chills when one starts buzzing around me.

 

[dennishoddy]

Nearly every common creature has been mentioned but no one has mentioned Wasps. I have tried those smoke bombs that supposedly kill insects and with all the air vents it was a waste of time. I am highly allergic to Wasps, Hornets etc and literally pass out when stung and one time after bing stung, my BP dropped to 60/40 before the wife gave me the anaphylaxis shot. So now I avoid those flying things and they can have the attic in the summer and I take over in the winter after they die! I get chills when one starts buzzing around me.

Wife has to go to the ER if she gets a wasp bite. She gets a fever, and a burning sensation all over. They give her a steroid shot and all is good.

 

[Dale00]

The cook in Washington Irving's party had a dead skunk hanging off his saddle bag for what he swore would be a tasty meal.
Other members of the party razzed him about it.

 

[Snattlerake]

Drop them into a barrel of water or use a kill stick that uses a syringe loaded with acetone on the end of a small LONG rod.
Actually one can use a tarp held so the skunk can't see movement with only the eyes over the top and no movement other that walking up to the trap. Just push the syringe into the skunk and it's over in seconds.

Uhh, skunks spray when they die too.

 

[dennishoddy]

Uhh, skunks spray when they die too.

I've trapped literally hundreds of skunks over the years in the trapping for profit business. You hate to see one of them in a leg hold or a live trap because you know it's going to spray when you kill it. I've used head shots, body shots, shotguns, high powered rifles, sub sonic .22, they all spray right when they die and their muscles relax.
Using the tarp method to walk up to the trap and using the syringe method with acetone puts them to sleep in seconds. No spray! Learned that technique from the Oklahoma Trappers Association.

 

[Dale00]

I guess there aren't any skunk whisperers.

 

[2busy]

Nearly every common creature has been mentioned but no one has mentioned Wasps. I have tried those smoke bombs that supposedly kill insects and with all the air vents it was a waste of time. I am highly allergic to Wasps, Hornets etc and literally pass out when stung and one time after bing stung, my BP dropped to 60/40 before the wife gave me the anaphylaxis shot. So now I avoid those flying things and they can have the attic in the summer and I take over in the winter after they die! I get chills when one starts buzzing around me.

Make some wasp traps. I cup sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, mix well and put in a quart jar. A plastic jar with a lid works better with a one inch hole about half way up. I use them to catch wax moths in the bee yard. Except a cut up banana peal is added to the mix. The vinegar keeps the bees from being interested. I catch wasps in them all the time.

 

[MacFromOK]

Nearly every common creature has been mentioned but no one has mentioned Wasps. I have tried those smoke bombs that supposedly kill insects and with all the air vents it was a waste of time. I am highly allergic to Wasps, Hornets etc and literally pass out when stung and one time after bing stung, my BP dropped to 60/40 before the wife gave me the anaphylaxis shot. So now I avoid those flying things and they can have the attic in the summer and I take over in the winter after they die! I get chills when one starts buzzing around me.

Make some wasp traps. I cup sugar, 1/2 cup vinegar, 1 cup water, mix well and put in a quart jar. A plastic jar with a lid works better with a one inch hole about half way up. I use them to catch wax moths in the bee yard. Except a cut up banana peal is added to the mix. The vinegar keeps the bees from being interested. I catch wasps in them all the time.

You can make a good wasp trap by cutting the top out of a 2L pop bottle, turning it upside down and taping it back on with 2-3 vertical strips. They will rarely escape the inverted funnel, and the tape lets ya easily remove it for rinsing.

Anything that attracts 'em will work for bait (some folks use Kool-aid). Good to know about vinegar keeping bees out, btw.