Skunks

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They can be trained, to some extent - but they will always be less than 100% predictable. They are kinda cute in a fluffy way.

For a couple of years in the middle of my career, I was assigned to "other duties" while on mounted (horse) patrol. During that time, my squad and I were detailed to a remote FOB. We had RV trailers to live 4 guys in, but a common kitchen and planning tent with tables and enough room for the whole FOB to gather. One of my other Horse Patrol guys, JT, was going through a bad divorce, it should have been a Gerry Springer Special. Ol JT was having trouble sleeping and he didn't want to keep the three other guys awake so he would spend a few hours every night in the mess tent. Being remote meant that there were bears, coatimundi, ring tail cats, javelina and skunks in and round the camp on a regular basis. Ol JT started to feed the local skunks bits of bread and crackers under the table while he worked on his poor mental state. It was quickly discovered by the skunks that the old sad man would feed them yummies, and soon he had multiple little black and white "cats" bumping his feet under the table and eating from his hand. Poor old guy needed a friend, so we cut him some slack.

It was also quickly discovered who the city kids were - the ones with a high-pitched scream - when they met hungry skunks in the kitchen. We never did have a spray incident, but it did take intervention from the command staff to get JT to quit feeding the skunks. Cute as they are, they do not make good companions around the home. Yes, you can have them de-scented - but that means they are now your responsibility to keep them as inside "cats".

Best to go ahead and remove them. You can trap them, cover the trap with a wet blanket and relocate them. Ask your local County Extension office for guidance or assistance.

Or do the deed yourself and be your wife's hero.
 
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rsfrid said:
I can tell you from ( a bad) experience — DON'T LIVE TRAP THEM! What a strong smell!
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Yeah I don’t have the guts to try that. No way I’m paying a pesting company. Lol. I don’t know. We had a family of them a cpl years ago but they didn’t hang around too close. Eventually just moved on. I hope these do as well or the air rifle may have to be the answer or I will keep hearing it. I know they are fine as long as you don’t corner them. I mean my understanding is they really won’t spray until it’s kind of last resort for them. Others in the house aren’t so comfortable. They really don’t bother me much but she is also worried they will end up in the garage.
 
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Struckat said:
Some pest cont companies do wild life live trap and relocate. Maybe not skunks.
Live trap = sprayed
Oh man I can smell it now. You soft mister…
I say that as a baby bunny lives in the bushes next to my garden. Could of shot him yesterday, but couldn’t…
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You can live trap them you need to enclose all of the sides and leave the ends uncovered, pick them up during the day, they are heavy sleepers. You can relocate them but odds are they'll starve, they are very near sighted.
 
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ba49 said:
Try tossing some mothballs under the porch.I did it years ago when they were tearing up my yard digging for grubs. I scattered them around the back yard and they were gone in 2 days. It worked on a groundhog under my shed too.
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I've used mothballs and they do work, they are also very toxic in the soil.
 
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Trucker3573 said:
A mother and 2 baby skunks have decided to make home under our deck. Guess I’m a softie in my older age as I’m wondering if there are any methods to make them move out. ? Just not super keen on shooting the little guys 🤷‍♂️. Wife wants them gone like yesterday. Won’t even sit out there. lol.
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Pure Peppermint oil on cotton balls , it will irritate their eyes , works great to keep Squirrels out of the attic , but that is an enclosed area ?
IT will also effect your eyes might work ? PS a little go's a long way
 
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beerthief said:
Pure Peppermint oil on cotton balls , it will irritate their eyes , works great to keep Squirrels out of the attic , but that is an enclosed area ?
IT will also effect your eyes might work ? PS a little go's a long way
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That works good for rat's and mice too. I use it in my trailer over the winter to keep the mice out.
 
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Skunks: I have had some in my trap cages when trying to catch possums. I was told they can not lift their tail high enough to spray. Well, they tried, but they did not spray me. I put an old blanket over the cage and moved them miles away. I let them out, and they looked back at me and smiled. Also, we have had one come into our county house, and it never bothered us.
I think people over react to skunks, though it is a normal reaction and they can be a pain; I sure would not kill them anymore.btw, age can make you a softie, and also being a cancer survivor.(y)
 
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I'm on your side with not killing them. From Google:

Despite their notorious smell, skunks actually contribute several positive environmental benefits:
  • Pest Control: Skunks are natural pest controllers, preying on various insects and rodents like beetles, grasshoppers, mice, and voles. This can help regulate populations of potentially damaging pests and reduce the need for chemical pesticides in gardens and agricultural areas.
  • Seed Dispersal: Skunks contribute to plant biodiversity by consuming fruits and nuts and dispersing their seeds through their droppings (scat). This helps regenerate plant communities and supports a healthy ecosystem.
  • Soil Aeration: As skunks dig for food, particularly insects, they aerate the soil. This improves drainage and nutrient mixing, benefiting vegetation growth.
  • Scavenging: Skunks act as scavengers, consuming carrion and decaying organic matter. This helps clean up the environment and prevents the spread of diseases.
  • Role in the Food Chain: Skunks serve as prey for larger predators, contributing to the balance of the food web.
 
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The first time they spray your dog you will wish you had vacated them from under your house. If you do anything other than hit them in the vitals without them seeing you, they will spray. Head-shot they will spray, trap them, chase them etc its stinky time. After like 5 times a local skunk sprayed my dog, my wife had enough and said either I took him out or she was going to mossberg him. Two Nielsen slugs to the vitals and cleaned up the next morning, very little smell.

Dawn dish soap, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide mixed together is the only real way to break down the stinky oil and clean things. Good luck ;)
 
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I see a lot of people saying live trap = spray. Not in my experience or those that taught me. I've trapped and dispatched close to a dozen next to my house, never sprayed, the people that taught me have been doing it for decades without one spray. Skunks don't spray when they drown, may sound cruel but nobody wants a skunk to spray around their home. Problem with live trapping is you will often catch all sorts of things not being a skunk before you catch what you were after. As far as shooting, you just can't use an air rifle and have even close to 100 percent success, probably flip a coin territory at best. You need extreme shock, but less than what would rip open their glands, and yes you can have too much shock with a well placed varmint bullet broadside through the shoulders and rip the glands around their anus, I used to own a .17 rem and at over 4,000 fps impact velocity I have had it rip the glands on a broadside shoulder shot, that was decades ago, learned that lesson. You need to totally destroy shoulders forward and high supersonic speed and there is no spray, shoot with anything that doesn't do that with shock and many times they will spray, sometimes not. It is strictly PB territory to shoot them and not spray with proper shot placement with supersonic rounds, think .223 and faster with varmint bullets that will vaporize shoulder forward. I can do that in my front yard, not everyone has the luxury of land you can do that safely on. Professional trappers live trap them and remove them with 99+ % success no spray, if they drowned them on site in the trap without them ever seeing anything/anybody then it would be 100% success.
 
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Having been a Govt. Hunter/trapper for over 25+ yrs, and live trapped several hundred skunks,
the ONLY safe method of removing them with no odor is to live trap or shoot them with nothing larger that a 20/22 cal pellet rifle, thru the LUNGS ONLY, 1 shot ONLY.

If you shoot them in the head they will spray, you hit the backbone they will spray,
I will repeat this warning, 1 shot only, THRU THE LUNGS ONLY.
Leave them alone and they will waddle off a short distance and take a dirt nap,
with no spraying, then you can dispose of them. I leave them over night to stiffen up.

If live trapping them, wrap the live trap with black plastic, leave the wrapping long over the in door, to cover the exit door, cut a small slot to stick the live trap handle thru for easy carrying, after closing up the in door, with the plastic ends.
Transport to a moving ditch, tie a rope ti the handle and slowly lower the live trap under water, till ALL bubbles stop showing, wait a couple minutes, then remove the trap, dig a hole and bury the dead skunk.

If you don't use a moving water, you will soon learn why you use MOVING water,
remember oil and water DON'T mix, oil floats on water...YES they will spray under water
ymmv.
 
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