skunk: now what?

[ceelove.livejournal.com]

ETA: how nice, AC called me back! They say that it's illegal to trap, move, etc a healthy wild animal and that I had to release it myself. It was nerve-wracking, but I tried to communicate that I meant no harm, and indeed the skunk did not act threatened by me.

I have accidentally trapped a skunk in a humane animal trap. When I called Animal Control about an opossum that broke into our house and slaughtered eight quails, I got no response from them, so I don't have high hopes about them bothering to return my call this time. Now what do I do? It doesn't seem an emergency, such that I would call the police department, but the skunk is kinda freaking out, and inexperienced me doesn't want to approach the trap and induce it to spray me and/or our yard.

Comments

[ron_newman]

- It 's illegal to trap, move, etc a healthy wild animal

What are you supposed to do with mice and rats then, if not trap them? Or are they considered to be domesticated and not wild?

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

"Trap and move" = dump them where they become a problem for someone else. As opposed to "trap and kill", which is what most folks do with mice and rats.

[adaptively.livejournal.com]

> What are you supposed to do with mice and rats then, if not trap them?

Let your cat eat them.