So I tried to walk on the side of my house last night and noticed a skunk in a trap my neighbor had placed.
I called animal control (which is amherst police dispatch) and I guess our tax money only goes towards dogs…thx
So I asked her if it was legal if I got a bee bee gun from walmart and shot it.
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“Sir…its illegal to discharge a firearm in Amherst” (she was pissed)
“A bee bee gun is a fire arm?”
“Sir, thats what i JUST…SAID”
So, my question is. Is a bee bee gun really a “fire arm” and is it illegal to kill a skunk?
Not that I hate them but I, well more “he” since its his skunk now, dont want to get sprayed
Hey, nobody sees you, pump a pellet into his head and chuck it in a dumpster. We used to shoot squirrels in Cheektowaga for chewing through our garbage cans. Bagged em and tossed em in the trash.
He have a fellow great dane owner that lives out in the Gasport area. She carries her gun on dog walks specifically to shoot skunks, opossums, etc. since a majority of them are rabid.
Yes, a BB Gun is a firearm and discharging one in town isn’t a good idea. That said if no one sees it they won’t likely know it happened.
Yes, you can kill skunks. They are classified as nuisance animals and you’re not allowed to trap and relocate them.
No, animal control will not come deal with it.
As cruel as it sounds the best way to deal with a trapped skunk is to approach slowly with a blanket in front of you to hide your feet and toss the blanket over the trap. Then pick up the trap with the blanket over it and toss the whole thing in a tub of water deep enough to drown the skunk. From a bunch of sites I’ve read it’s basically the only way to kill it without it spraying. Even shooting it in the head is a 50/50 chance of it spraying. I don’t know if this will get you an animal cruelty charge though, so again, what people don’t see…
And yes, I know all this because I too have a skunk trap because they were spraying way too often around my house. I debated getting a conibear trap but I was too worried about killing non-skunks with it.
I think it isn’t a firearm but I bet if you have some annoying neighbors seeing you shoot it, they probably will call the police. Fire it out a window from inside your house. It muffles the POP! noise.
It makes sense. You’re taking a nuisance animal and just making a it a nuisance somewhere else.
And yes, the drowning thing is pretty awful. So is waking up at 3am to a skunk smell so strong in your house it actually makes you sick to your stomach. I swear the little fucker must have sprayed at the fan that was blowing nice cool air in my bedroom window.
What are his options at this point? Spend $214 on a gun to kill a skunk? I would throw the cage and all in the back of a truck and drive out the country, shoot the thing and throw it in the woods. Obviously I don’t recommend him shooting it in Amherst. Stop assuming things and trying to be an ass, as usual.
Just be aware that if you shoot it you’ll almost certainly be dealing with it spraying. And if you’re caught discharging a firearm in Amherst is a serious crime.
The problem is skunk smell carries WAY farther than your property in suburbia. Since you can’t clean up everyone else’s property it’s easier to lure the skunk to yours and get rid of it permanently.