State Department of Agriculture officials say a Hilo resident caught a skunk in a trap Thursday while attempting to catch mongoose on his property in the Keaukaha neighborhood.
Yesterday morning, Chris Owens of Laehala Street found the skunk in one of the traps he’d set to catch mongoose raiding his chicken coop. Owens contacted officials and inspectors were dispatched immediately and retrieved the skunk.
The animal had to be euthanized to test for rabies at a mainland laboratory.
Owens had only begun trapping mongoose this week and said he used teriyaki chicken as bait.
Officials think the skunk is the same one spotted by stevedores at Hilo Harbor on Dec. 7 and spotted the following day near Hilo airport. The animal had since eluded capture despite multiple intensive night searches by the inspectors from the department’s Plant Quarantine Branch and U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services.
On Jan. 28, a skunk was reported running around the Naniloa Golf Course on Banyan Drive and on Feb. 1, a skunk was reported in Keaukaha.
“We are fortunate that Mr. Owens was able to contain the skunk which has been eluding capture for several months,” said Sharon Hurd, Board of Agriculture chairwoman. “Because skunks are nocturnal animals, it made it more difficult for staff to track this one down..”
Skunks are prohibited in Hawaii. They are avid egg eaters and would pose a threat to Hawaii’s native ground-nesting birds if they become established. In the U.S., they are recognized as one of the four primary wild carriers of rabies, a fatal viral disease of mammals that is often transmitted through the bite of an infected animal. Hawaii is the only state in the U.S. and one of the few places in the world that is free of rabies.
Live skunks have been previously spotted by stevedores and captured at Honolulu Harbor in February 2018, January 2021, July 2021, June 2022. On Maui, a live skunk was captured at Kahului Harbor in December 2020, and one was captured at a trucking company in August 2018. Also on Maui, the Department of Land and Natural Resources captured a skunk at Kanaha Pond State Wildlife Sanctuary in August 2022.
All previously captured skunks have tested negative for rabies.