New Mexico Town's Plan to Trap Skunks Not Going So Well

Something stinks in one southeastern New Mexico town and residents want police on the case. KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reports skunk smell is plaguing the town of Hagerman thanks to a mild winter that is bringing out the smelling mammals early. Viola Badcock, the owner of Hagerman Township Animal Shelter, says the annoying animals are hanging in town and generally are not healthy. She says their stink appears to be a growing problem. Hagerman Police Patrolman Adam Chavez says officers are settling up traps around the town, which has a population of 1,200, and in nearby Lake Arthur and Dexter, reports the AP.

Chavez says healthy skunks caught in traps will be relocated on the east side of town near a river—but the traps have yet to bear fruit: Fox News reports they've thus far snared a dozen cats, four dogs, and a house rabbit. In the meantime, Fox News reports that "skunk carcasses are strewn all over the town’s streets," so much so that it claims you'll see at least one on any given street. "We're finding a bunch of dead ones on the road almost nightly now," says Chavez.

(More skunks stories.)