Here is a story to get you thinking.
A couple years ago Eric Degman gave me some skunk stuff. Just skunk essence in Vaseline. Told me I should give it a try. In the past I was always leary of skunky cat lures because I thought it would draw even more civets but times change and I want the civets so this year I used it. I could not leave it alone though and added some castor to it. I definitely think it helped. I caught about 15 with it. Turned the smaller ones loose.
I listened to Tracy Truman at the NTA Western giving a demo on cats and he extolled the power of skunk on cats.
Towards the end of trapping season this year I received a call on a nuisance civet. I'll not go into the long story why but He ended up getting hung up outside a trap and I had to gather him up alive and haul him home. I covered him up with a blanket and suffice to say the blanket took a beating. Afterwards I washed it and ran it through the dryer. Why I thought this would get the smell out is a mystery but it was obvious It could never be used for bedding. It had a slight smell of skunk permanently embedded in it. I threw it down in the corner and after a bit my housecat found it. She went nuts over it. Rolling, digging, tunneling for like two hours. She acted like it was catnip. Later she would sleep on it often.
Needless to say I have decided a slight odor of skunk is highly attractive to cats.
