Skunk problem
 

We have skunks around the property & would appreciate help from those that have tried & proven success with 'known' solutions of how to get rid of them?

Other than paying for a wildlife removal service,

I've already done the google, suggestions are Mothballs & leaving or putting strong lights on in areas & around the house

Thanks

Re: Skunk problem
 

Fox pee.

Seriously.

Sold in the hunting section of big-box sports shops.

Wear gloves.

Re: Skunk problem
 

We have had good results with live traps and releasing them a good distance away.
The trick is to throw a cloth over the trap when you pick it up .
I was told by a local that skunks have a homing instinct and will travel back so release them at least 5 miles away.

Re: Skunk problem
 

In our area (CA, East Bay) there is some local county authority that will come out and set traps and do the removal for free. However, I was told they would kill the animals so I wasn't comfortable with that.

I've been in the house for 21 years now, and we have a variety of critters visiting us / living under our deck, including raccoons, skunks, and even a family of foxes one year. Deer also congregate, and recently we've seen a family of wild Turkeys hanging around. Not once have we had any 'incidents' with the skunks ... although we don't have cats/dogs, and that may be a difference for you.


Skunks are very cool animals and I enjoy seeing them around. Raccoons are also super smart and can get into just about anything. I have learned to really appreciate all this wildlife, and feel that introducing a pet (cat/dog) into the mix would be asking for trouble.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I haven't seen our skunk since the racoons moved in. I know the racoons killed the possum because I found the skeleton. So I'm not sure if getting rid of skunks would allow other vermin to move in. I think the facts that we have cats keeps a lot away from the house.

Re: Skunk problem
 

This. Get yourself an "outdoor" cat or two, from the local shelter. We call it "applied ecology". :lol: ...... It also works for snakes - because the cats remove or discourage the potential snake food. :nod:
Under CA law animal/pest services are not allowed to move live animals to a different location. I suspect that many/most states have a similar law. .... If you get your own traps you can, of course, just ignore the law. That said, I would be very wary about moving skunks even in the open bed of my truck - the stink of skunk spray is unbelievable.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Cannabis aroma will help mask the skunk smell.

I hate driving over skunks on the road, the smell carries for miles

Re: Skunk problem
 

That might help in the PNW, but smelling of weed creates other problems in my neck of the woods. :unsure:
I hear tomato pulp is good for removing / neutralizing the smell.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I have heard tomato juice is good. My wife said they had to bathe their dog in tomato juice when he tried playing with a skunk.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Don't know how I did it, but I somehow learned to enjoy the skunk smell! I wouldn't want it on my clothing, but driving past a dead skunk on the road is now a positive experience :) . It's all in the mind ...

Re: Skunk problem
 

Some cannabis smells very similar to skunk spray - there is a reason that cannabis is sometimes known as "skunk". .... A studenty-looking youth has got on the bus I ride two or three times, and the stench about him is unreal! :blink:

Re: Skunk problem
 

I hope you didn't spray him with essence of tomato

Re: Skunk problem
 

I wasn't carrying a bucket of tomato juice and pulp that day, .... though I wish I had been.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Me too. :unsure:

Re: Skunk problem
 

Have you tried spraying around the property with pepper spray? Easily made at home - spray it on bushes etc. around the boundary.

How to Get Rid of Animal Pests With Hot Pepper Spray

Re: Skunk problem
 

Nononononononono.

No.

Re: Skunk problem
 

And reapply after every time it rains. :nod:

Life is too short to have to deal with that. :rolleyes:

Re: Skunk problem
 

thanks for the replies to my OP

Its become so severe that drastic action is needed. We have an 8'x8' raised shed at the bottom of the yard & centrally located where the stink is coming from. Don't know if they're fighting over Brexit or the euro 16, making out whatever, its 24/7 stench that carries through the windows into our house

Starting to using some of the suggestions in this thread

- Fox pee as well as hot pepper concoction sprayed under the shed

- Will get me a trap, like the ones used by the wildlife catcher service

- Add to it moth balls & strong flood lights placed under the shed blaring at whatever is under there.

Re: Skunk problem
 

If you have youngsters they have problem controlling their stink glands. This will improve when they get older. Baby skunks do look cute if you see them.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Thanks for that info

cute & smelly doesn't work :rofl:

Re: Skunk problem
 

And, once they have moved out, fence off underneath the shed so they can't repeat your experience next breeding season.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I have smelt skunk funk and to me it wasn't the worst smell in the world, it just smelt of rotten garbage or rotten onions. DH's family cat also had to be bathed in tomato juice!

Would be a very expensive solution but I wonder if you could live-trap the youngsters and get their scent glands removed? I know that is what people who keep pet skunks do. Yes some people keep them as pets even in the UK!

Very happy to see that everyone is suggesting kind solutions, happy 4th July for Monday!

Re: Skunk problem
 

And I thought I was the only one!! :thumbsup:

Re: Skunk problem
 

I'm sure there are many variations on this, but this is what we use on our ranch:
Tomato Juice, Dawn Dish Soap (brand matters), baking soda, hydrogen peroxide. It will not completely neutralize the smell, but will greatly diminish it. We have a 'skunk kit' on hand at all times in one of the kitchen cupboards :fingerscrossed:

If your pet was sprayed in the face, don't forget to rinse the eyes with eye wash very thoroughly and apply liquid tears:thumbs:

We had an injured baby skunk in the hospital the other day, one of the techs ended up adopting it. To go with her goat, owl, squirrel, cats, dogs, monkey, and who knows what else. And yes, the goat lives INSIDE the house. Only in Texas :)

Now, you think skunks smell, then try expressing a dogs anal glands for a rank smell :sick:

Re: Skunk problem
 

Hmmm

Thought this was a Hillary thread.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Been there, done that, bought the T-Shirt
http://www.alternet.org/files/styles..._t-shirt_0.png

Re: Skunk problem
 

BE Group Buy?

Re: Skunk problem
 

Bright light
Motion activated sprinkler
Skunks don't climb fences very well. Make sure base of fence is buried about a foot below ground
Wire trap, cover with tarp which will calm skunk, make sure it's airtight. attach shop vac hose to exhaust pipe of car, rev car a few times, bye bye skunk

Re: Skunk problem
 

The award for least nice poster of the thread goes to you. Glad I don't know you in RL.

Re: Skunk problem
 

So we have the ability to put a particular poster on ignore? If so, how does that work?

Yes dc koop, I am talking about you.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Oh dear. Here we are, a forum for Brit expats in the US and we haven't a clue about the First Amendment.

I don't like skunks much. My dog was sprayed by two of them and went through quite a bit of misery afterwards.

BTW Have you ever worked in a County Animal shelter ? Yes they put down hundreds of animals a day, much nicer and cuter then skunks. Go visit a shelter and get yourself an education.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Lots of people get murdered, does that make it OK for me to murder someone? I think skunks are very cute, unlike you. So your dog was sprayed? Did he die from the spraying? You need to learn some compassion. Skunks don't spray to be mean, they do it as self-protection. How's the skunk to know your dog wasn't going to attack him? Killing is neither an intelligent nor a proportionate response.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I know what my pup would do if he got one, he has been hit twice.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I never said that I killed a skunk. The dog killed them. That advice about that particular method of skunk removal was given to me by a pest control officer after my dog was sprayed by two of them at night in my back yard.

So you think skunks are very cute. is that a reason for not getting rid of them using any method possible because they're cute? My dog has every right to roam the back yard in safety and he comes first. Skunks are a nuisance end of story.

FYI I've killed a couple of rattlers which found their way into my tool shed. I wasn't going to let them exist there and then one day accidentally tread on one of them and btw rattlers aren't cute

Re: Skunk problem
 

Freedom of speech also permits me to express a wish that dc koop is sprayed by an entire family of skunks. On the ignore list the skunk gasser goes.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I think you are confused. Your first amendment entitles a person to share objectionable views in public. It does not compel others to read or listen to them.

The skunks are probably not all that keen on the way you smell either, to be honest. They are harmless animals, suffocating them is cruel and unnecessary.

http://www.floridaskunkrescue.com/im...lendar2008.jpg

Re: Skunk problem
 

What she said.

Nice skunk pic! I think I must have been a skunk in a previous life, and I was such a good skunk that they decided to make me a person this time around.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Success is all about spraying the right people, I find.

Re: Skunk problem
 

I am with you in this one. I have never seen a skunk on my property, but they are common in the area, so it is highly likely I have some somewhere or they visit (we are visited by raccoons, but they don't live on my property), and they are one of only a few native/ endemic species I haven't seen on my property. If I did see one I certainly wouldn't plan on killing it.

Re: Skunk problem
 

Oh Matron, and utter filth!