What demon critter is doing this to my yard?

[Hack]

I've caught and disposed of 2 young possums this week but the digging is still happening.
I look out around 4:30 this morning and saw the culprit in action. It's a skunk. I'm not trapping that. I'm going to try Castor oil mixed with dish soap to repel it.

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

I've caught and disposed of 2 young possums this week but the digging is still happening.
I look out around 4:30 this morning and saw the culprit in action. It's a skunk. I'm not trapping that. I'm going to try Castor oil mixed with dish soap to repel it.

Right. I have never been able to shoot a skunk without it spraying as it died. Even with a perfect headshot.

 

[TANSTAAFL]

Rather than joking about it I would say some animals really become pests. We moved into our current home in October of 2020, which had a couple of days of severe weather. My wife out of compassion for a rabbit in our backyard suggested putting out some food for it during a short period of snow and cold temperatures. For two summers after that we dealt with the rabbits eating snapdragons, petunias, vinca and a variety of plants we had in our beds. Took both summers and winters of spraying a variety of repellants before they stopped eating. Even the geese earlier this year were pests. I like them, but not the stuff they leave behind on our driveway and lawn. Yelling at them and chasing them for several days they decided I was a poor host and moved on.

 

[AER244]

Skunks don’t spray when drowned in a live trap. I don’t really like that practice, but it works.