NOW what??? dead skunk in garden

[cheryli]

Last Tuesday I discovered a skunk in my culvert trying to feast on my recycling. It walked funny and grumbling - no doubt rabies or other ailment.

I backed away and called Animal Control - who may or may not have shown up. It was raining quite hard all week.

Well, this AM (Sunday) I had a nice day and time, so I did I quick garden walk. About 25 feet from the original siting, there is a very dead (partially skeletonized) skunk. Due to the oddness of the white stripe (this one was more white than black, especially on the tail).


So, do I let nature finish it's work - there are beetles and flies aplenty. This is a flower garden and an area I can avoid working in for a few weeks. Or do I grab the shovel and heft it to the woods or compost heap.

Thanks

Cheryl

 

[patandchickens]

Personally I'd use a shovel (tip: slip a bag over it first, so it isn't quite so hard to scrub the nastiness off the shovel afterwards, you'd be surprised how the stink of decay clings!) and chuck it way far into the woods. (Well, here on a rural road, things like that get walked down the road a little ways and chucked across the ditch on the other side of the road - same principle )

I would probably stir up the soil it's been sitting on, fluff it up in rough little piles, to expose it to air and sunlight. Point being partly to dissipate the stink/beetles/flies and partly to let mother nature start taking care of the bacterial load.

I do not think that much that killed the skunk is going to persist long at *all* in the carcass. In particular if you are worried about rabies, you probably needn't -- the virus is basically only in the salivary glands, brain, spinal cord and other major nerve tissue, and dies off Real Fast after the animal's demise.

I would say 'have fun' but that seems inappropriate here

Pat

 

[cheryli]

I didn't smell a thing - I'd bet it has been dead since Tuesday and it's rained nearly every day since - much it torrential downpour. It was hot yesterday and I didn't smell it coming or going.

Cheryl

 

[blurose]

Definately DO NOT add that thing to your compost pile. Do just what Pat said and take your new pet skunk for a walk.