Short version is, they stink! 

I have been reminded of this again, of late...

Now I was born and raised down South, and now currently reside up North. Just how raised..., if one sees a skunk in the daylight hours, most likely they ain't wired right , i.e. Rabies. Not a good thing at all...

So popping one out in a field is one thing. I mean buzzards gotta eat too ya know. .
Popping one "right there" in the yard next to farm house is one thing...
Catching one in a live trap presents problems as well.

Basically there ain't a good way to dispose of said buzzard fare. Did I mention they stink!! *phew*

The first one was simple, I was walking down the lane that separate two fields with my 17 HMR. Skunk is in the lane, about 40 steps away, so I popped him.

The second, was after returning, and leaving .17 HMR in the garage, whilst I drank my tea, I noticed another one, running towards the garage, one garage door is open, and the "back door" is open. Why I did not snag the .17 is beyond me...I just run out, drew my Model 10 snubby and let loose at about 7 steps.

I let him sit to get less stinky, then used a feed shovel to dispose of him.

[Tueller Drill? Also this skunk running at you, would make one helluva of  a charging target...in competitions]

The third, was caught in a Live Trap, I set out on the property of a neighbor of mine. The objective was to catch a raccoon(s) that has been keeping tabs on his plot of sweet corn. Well I did dispose of one raccoon, and I kid you not, it was not an hour later, a skunk had found this Live Trap.

This time, I snagged the Rem 510, and carefully got close enough to make him quit fussing and carrying on, and not hit/damage my Live Trap. I had to  be somewhere, so I let him be. Giving him time to be "less stinky".
I still used a piece of tarp, tossed over trap to toss in a field later.

Mind Picture: Here I am with a empty live trap, and Rem 510, coming back to my place, when of all folks to come down this little country road, is a Sheriff Deputy. He waved, I did a head nod and continued on.

alone

Way back when I was 16 or so, we had a skunk run into the yard.  We had two dogs at the time and something like a half dozen farm cats, so this is odd behavior for a skunk.  Everyone sees it, worries about rabies.

So my Dad yells at me to go get the shotgun and shoot that skunk.

So I get me that shotgun.  I want to shoot that fluffer from the deck, but I can't.  Grass is to tall.

I jump down.  Go to where the dogs are barking.  See the skunk.  BOOM.

Shoot him once in the middle of the back.  He goes dowm like a broken bridge.  His stink shoots twenty feet out his ass.  A brown jet, I can see it,

And then I see my girlfriend - who is from town -run through the stink.

I look at the kitchen window and see my mom laughing.

We have skunks here but we also have red tailed hawks which make the skunk's nightly foraging more exciting.   

Really? A red tail hawk will catch a skunk? Never knew that  . I wonder if owls will as well? I'm always amazed how large of things great horned owls can pick up.... Truly large birds.

Speaking of charging critters. As a youth , I once had an armadillo "charge" me. Little did I know that it's den was right behind me. It was still an intense experience though  .

  I ran one through the swather today.......stunk that SOB up pretty bad 

  I ran one through the swather today.......stunk that SOB up pretty bad 

Horrible memories from my youth right there...

As a kid we ran a raccoon up a culvert pipe with the hounds one night. It was one of the big ones about 3 feet across. There was about 5 skunks living in the thing. Coon, dogs and skunks all came staggering out of said pipe puking everywhere. It would burn your eyes if you got within about 100 yards of the damn culvert.

Mom made us burn all the clothes we wore that night. 

The redtails around here seem to have an affinity for rabbits and pack rats and such.  Occasionally you see Harris' hawks too and they seem to prefer larger stuff - probably because they tend to hunt in pairs or triplets.   Never saw one with a skunk, though.   

Sorry about your cat.  Domesticated animals are like a free lunch for most predators, though.  Raptors like owls, hawks and falcons just swoop down into the back yards around here and away they go.  Coyotes just climb over the wall.  We live next to a fairly large mountain preserve area so there's lots of wildlife roaming around and if they are hungry and motivated, things don't usually end well for the Kibbles'n'Bits and Little Friskies crowd.   

Sorry to hear about your cat. It sucks to lose a pet you care about.   I admit that when I noticed the raptors where coming back to this area I did worry a bit about pets but, after a while, I realized  the coyotes which are a much bigger threat to cats and small to medium-sized dogs.

Owls may be protected, but I would hope there could be an exception to the rule if they were messing with your dogs.

I try to be respectful to the protected species as well. Hell, the only time I ever killed an owl was when one divebombed my car when I was driving down an unlit country road.

It was all darkness except for the narrow beams that my headlights cut through the black. I was concentrated on the road and saw the lines of the road before me. It was line. Line. Line. Then bam! Split second of a windshield full of owl, then line. Line. Line. It scared the absolute s___ out of me  .

Big ass birds  .

I believe that was the first critter I ever hit with a vehicle too. I mean, how do you swerve around something that kamikazes your left headlight, coming in hot and fast at low altitude?

Owls may be protected, but I would hope there could be an exception to the rule if they were messing with your dogs.

That's the 3S rule.  Shoot, shovel, shut up.