Now what?

Yesterday Polly lost her head.
And part of a wing.
It was a nice snowy morning. Nice, meaning, well, it was snowing horizontally with superfine ice-flakes. I sent Littlest down the lane to catch the bus and suited up to go do morning barn chores. This part of the routine I have described before. I open the door, the gander bursts out loudly, often banging his wings on both sides of the door frame. The ducks clumsily quack their way out just after. Only, on this morning, after the gander blustered his way out, no ducks. Hmmm. So, I went about my morning chores, feeding everyone grain, filling water buckets, and keeping an ear open for the ducks. I did not let the chickens out- much to their annoyance, as I wanted to find the ducks first, in case danger lurked in the dark recesses of the barn. ( The last predator was a raccoon, who took one of my ducks, and I smashed him in the head with a 12 foot oak beam. Rang his bell a bit. Duck was fine.) I went out to the pasture to take the sheep and the horses, thinking the ducks sometimes wander into the pasture searching for bugs. (A few years back, I noticed I was one duck short as I brushed my teeth and the sun rose in the east. I went flying outside in boots and a robe wielding a broom overhead, screaming like a banshee- and took that duck right back from a very frightened fox.) And, after my return from the pasture, there, around the water bucket, were three ducks. Three. Uh-oh. There should be four. And, as the ducks aren't laying eggs right now, there really, really should be four. Now, having an acute sense of smell can be a disadvantage ( kids shoes, frying sausages, morning breath) but mostly it is an advantage (propane leaks, fresh evergreen, acute otitis externa) and I can smell dead duck pretty clearly. So, setting my bloodhound sniffer into action, I found her. Sadly, she did not look well. Most of her was just peeking out from under the corner of the chicken house. The rest of her was gone.
Now, I get riled up about this. I hate to lose any of them. And, I surmised that it happened between when Midddlest let them out of their pen ( 5:45 ish) and I come up for chores (8:30). Ducks get stiff very quickly, and it is 13 degrees, so, well, she's going to get cold pretty fast. I think she may have been killed not long before I made my way up to the barn. Now, the problem is, how can I save the next victim? Catch the killer.
So, I got out my live trap. And, coldly, baited it with the rest of Polly. I figured, the barn cats won't go into the trap for the duck- as the barn poultry is off limits, but if I put any other meat source in the trap, I'll just be trapping my cats. Also, I can't bury Polly, so she will just be ceremoniously wrapped in feed sacks and put in the trash bin. Might as well make her useful.
The rest of the day, I kept checking on the barn critters, and each time the gander would set up a fuss, I'd dash up to the barn. Nothing.
Late last night, still dressed for work (read ridiculously under bundled) I went up to the barn to see how all were faring. I placed the baited, but empty trap right up next to the scene of the crime. Everyone was sleeping nicely, blinking slowly, hoping for another round of tucker. And, as we fell asleep, I asked early rising Huz to go up there first thing, and check on the birds.....
Caught the bugger.

Yep. That's Polly closest to us in the trap. And the black thing with the white stripe down the back? That's Smelly.

I  shot this photo this morning while very quietly doing my chores. He is in the chicken half of the barn, so, well, no one has been fed over there this morning. The perp is a little skunk. Head eater.
This leaves one in a bit of a mess. What do you do with a skunk in a trap???
Call the experts!
Last year sometime, one of my city friends asked me how much I charge my country neighbors for my Veterinary Services. See, I don't practice out here, but I will always come and try to help if asked. They were astonished when I said "Nothing". See, out here, it all comes out in the wash. I helped with a steer in crisis one year, and my driveway is miraculously plowed after snowstorms. I pull lambs in the snow, and my front field is tidy and mowed before the barn party. I cosmetically hide a steer's exploded abscessed neck for the county fair show, and when I call on a Saturday morning to say I caught a skunk in my trap- the experts come out in the snowstorm to take care of it. I don't have a plow, or the know-how to take care of  a skunk without getting skunked. But, I can do some stuff, so I do what I can when given the opportunity. I quite enjoy being useful. And, in this, I quite enjoy knowing someone who is useful. Critter Control buddies. Excellent.