Dealing with a Skunk Living in Our Yard: Tips and Tricks to Keep Them Away

[Chef Endora]

There is a skunk living in our woodpile (100' from the house)

He comes out at night eating grubs. He was staying way out in
the "back 40 " mostly, but when I came home tonight, he was within 25' of the house. I had to drive around the yard a bit to scare him off. I certainly didn't want "Rosemonster" my 9 mo old "penis-a-poo" chasing it Poor dog was home 10 hr all by her lonesome! Then I saw her watching me drive around the yard-probably wondering what the heck I was doing when she had to pee! Not to mention the new neighbors...former city folks that don't
know about us hillbillies. 1:30 am & I'm out drivin around the yard

My DH would shoot it, but he hates just shooting something that is just doing what the good lord put him on this earth to do.

My question: does anyone have any ideas on how we can make him not like it here in our yard & go somewhere else.

 

[ShanaSmith]

I would google it. We had a possum in our front yard the other day and I had to look up what to do... they wonder though, so I didn't have to do anything. You certainly dont want a stinky penis-a-poo!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

I bet you have to explain how Boston can be in New York, sort of like how my professor friend has to explain that he teaches at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.Does the county have an animal control officer? It was the animal control guy who came and got the raccoon out of my kitchen after the little donkey bit me.

 

[ShanaSmith]

this is what I found : HTH
Persuading the skunk to find a different home is a good way to get rid of skunks. Do some searching and try to find out where exactly these skunks are holing up. If it's between April and September, there may be babies that can't get out of the hole on their own. If that's the case you'll have to wait until you know they're all out feeding. Otherwise, if you know they're gone, use a piece of fencing dug far enough into the earth to prevent them from burrowing their way back in.


Q. There's a skunk living under my porch. How do I get rid of it?
A. A skunk is a rabies vector species, which means it has the potential to carry and transmit rabies, so do not attempt to trap or capture it. Put moth balls under the porch or spray ammonia around the entry hole. The skunk may not like the smell and move elsewhere. Once it has relocated, close off the space with lattice or another type of barrier.

 

[Chef Endora]

KG-Yeah, the Boston thing. But you wouldn't believe the people that think New York State is just all NYC!

I'll check with the county or cooperative extension on Monday.

I'm assuming the racoon was not rabid. How did he get in the kitchen?

Shana, we know the skunk is in the woodpile, but I have never seen babies....yet. My DH is wanting to get back there & start splitting.
Just what we need...a gaggle of skunks for Rosie to get involved with. What do you call a bunch of shunks? A herd?

We had another penis-a-poo years ago that tangled w/a skunk the night before Halloween. So long ago that the stores were not open that late.
My DH had to bathe the dog in several jars of my D MIL's canned tomatoes.
The dog was black & hairy & full of tomato chunks & seeds. DH was not happy. I had to hide because I was finding humor in it & DH wasn't.
It smelled better outside than inside. I had windows open all night. DH wouldn't evacuate. Needless to say, we had NO trick or treaters that year.
We don't get that many here anyway...usually none.

Lots of baking soda & kitty litter helped w/the smell.

I found someone when I googled that will come out & trap. DH won't go for that. He's a DIY kind of guy.

 

[Chef Endora]

Thank you for your help.

Oh, no! I hope he doesn't decide to move in under our deck
We also have a futon swing that is in a 4 poster mosquito net tent-type thing. We like to sleep out there on warm nights. I don't think I'll be doing that for awhile because he was just a few feet away from there when I came home.

DH is staying at my DD's in Niagara Falls tonight. We were at her annual Luau
& he was singing Karoke Wait till he hears how close the skunk is getting.

I had to leave after hearing his rendition of "Like a Virgin" I let him think it was all about letting the dog out. Niagara Falls is about 40 miles from here.

 

[ShanaSmith]

wow, how scary for you. LOL! I hope he was a few sheets to the wind before he made his musical selection.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Raccoons are a "gaze" as in a murder of crows. I don't know what the collective noun is for skunks.I have no idea how the raccoon got into my kitchen but he didn't take kindly to me trying to chase him out. His head went on a one-way trip to Madison to test for rabies...the rest of him is now one of my favorite hats.I've live trapped squirrels for relocation but there is no way in Upstate NY that I'd ever live trap a skunk. If DH learned anything from a tomato juice bath (I've done that to my Scottish Terrierist, too) it should have been to leave *^%#! Pepi LePew alone. Let some other moron deal with the odiferous little bugger.

 

[chefkristin]

Geeze I don't know what to say....I drove into my condo complex one day last week and there was a family of skunks that all appeared to be babies just hanging out in the side yard in the broad daylight. All I have for you is to keep a vat of Tomato Juice on hand. LOL!!!

 

[cathyskitchen]

Oh, man - what an ordeal! I would let someone else deal with the little bugger, too! My DH and dad were out grilling last night on our deck, and they stopped dead in their tracks when a skunk walked right past them, not 5 feet away!! They said he went to the neighbor's yard, and I hope to heck he stays there. I have 2 little boys (8 & 5) and a black lab who would all think it was fun to chase it around - YIKES!!! Good luck and let us know what you do - in case I need some tips of my own!!!

 

[Chef Endora]

My last dog, my beloved little Lhasa poo, Buster's favorite Halloween costume was the skunk one. He looked just like a little skunk only with longer legs. He loved dressing up & being part of the social scene. He had
impeccable manners & was welcomed at DD's luau every year. He was
missed yesterday. Several people asked about him.

I tried to attach pix, but I keep getting an error message. Oh well, someday when I'm more computer literate

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Check out The Photo Thread to see how to post photos on CS.

 

[Chef Endora]

Thanks, KG. I'll have to try that later. I'm off to a graduation party now.

I know everyone can't wait to see my late doggie in his skunk outfit

 

[vtchef]

My DH uses a Havahart Trap. We have trapped many skunks and raccoons.

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

OK, a few years ago, I bought my husband a book from "The Trapper". If you're not familiar with him, his name is Harold E. Bailey, and he is on a talk show radio program each Saturday, and is full of neat little "tricks".

When I read your question, I went to the book for "advice" for you...


"SKUNKS
Just the name stinks! These animals are rabies carriers, don't fuss with them. They are better left alone. Carry ammonia with you when camping or at a cottage where skunks may be. Skunks find ammonia repulsive and will cower away. You can also use the gas cartridge as described for groundhogs. The poison smoke does the trick.
If you feel brave, another method is to use a long pipe with a cable or wire through it, creating a snare. Approach the skunk very slowly, slip the loop over his head and quickly lift up high enough to get his back feet off the ground. A skunk cannot spray with his hind legs off the ground.
You can also use clear ammonia on cotton balls. Throw the ammonia-saturated cotton balls where the skunks are coming in your yard. Underneath your porch, spray clear ammonia to drive the skunks away.
If you are unfortunate and get sprayed, bury or burn your clothes. The soil will remove the odor. Then, bathe in two cases of tomato juice from head to toe. Be hopeful you're not allergic to tomatoes!"


"GROUNDHOGS
A True Local Story
A groundhog went underneath an above ground pool. The ground hog chewed a hole in the lining of the swimming pool and let out 1,700 gallons of water and did $2000 worth of damage.

To spot a groundhog hole, look for the old fashioned large green horseflies scurrying above. These animals dig two holes to come and go. After dark, drop a large chlorine tablet (the kind they sell for home swimming pools) in to one of the holes and cover up the other hole. The fumes from the chlorine tablet will put the groundhog to sleep. Cover up the hole. Guaranteed you have him dead and buried.
Quarter an apple, and roll the pieces in honey. Use this for bait in your live traps.
To find out what is using the hole, put white flour around the hole and the animal's paw print will be seen in the flour.
These creatures will do extensive damage to your property if left unattended.
The other way is to get a paper bag that they have used to carry dog food in or farm feed for horses or cows and usually there's three bags in one. I run that all the way down into the soil clear up to my armpits then I put a pint of gasoline into the bag and roll the bag up and put a lot of dirt on top of the bag. Now what we've got to do is seal that off. In both cases you turn around and you put dirt on top of it. If you want to you put some water on top of the hole, just a little bit, and put more dirt on top of it. The groundhogs cannot handle gas fumes. You'll put them to sleep right out in the center of your hay field or maybe into your fence row. Groundhogs are terrible on farm equipment and on livestock.
This takes care of a groundhog problem. You know the groundhog has usually two holes and sometimes they get carried away and they'll have 3 or 4 holes. Now the easiest way to do this is to turn around and fill all those holes up good and tight with dirt. Then you get yourself a plastic pipe or even a garden hose in some cases and you put that down into the last hole that's open (about 60 inches long). Now you pack dirt all around that plastic hose. Now this is very toxic--very toxic--so I put a funnel down into the garden hose or plastic hose. I use 3/4 cup of liquid bleach and one quart of clear ammonia. Now that's a terrible gas. Now once you do that you pull the hose out very, very slow. Then right away you keep putting dirt on top of that hole you pulled the hose out of. And you'll put that guy to sleep and you spent about 59 cents to under a dollar. And that could be 3 or 4 groundhogs down there or maybe one groundhog down there and if they didn't dig back out you know you got the job done. And it's the easiest way for a farmer to get out there and tear around and get the groundhogs because if they dig a hole in the pasture or out in the field, first thing you know an animal is going to fall down--a horse, a cow, or whatever and break a leg and now we've got another problem. That will help to solve your groundhog problem like right now. Also, when you use the plastic pipe what I did is I turned around and took a broom handle, about one inch in length, and I put it inside and I sawed it off. Then I turned around and put a regular clamp around that broom handle then I took an electric drill and drilled some holes at the end of the pipe. Now when you push the pipe down into the groundhog hole, it'll never plug up. Yet you put your solution down into the pipe by using that funnel and therefore you didn't waste it. You got the job done. You did not plug it up and you solved one heck of a big problem.
Another thing, when a groundhog is underneath a shanty or underneath a building, you block off all the holes going around. Use a 2" x 4" or
2" x 8" or some cement block and then you set a live trap right in front of that hole. Now apple is the best thing to use all year round. They love apple. They're a vegetarian. That's why you don't have a garden left. Then once you get that trap set then I block the sides off with pieces of cardboard. Now there's only one way for that groundhog--that's out of the hole and straight in the trap and you caught that guy alive. Now you can do whatever you want to with him.
Groundhogs cannot handle used kitty litter...and neither can the Trapper. Placing used kitty litter around an area that groundhogs are bothering will keep the critters out!"



Sorry, I know it's kind of long, and not exactly correct, grammatically speaking, but, if it works, I figure it's worth the read, huh?


Best wishes to all of you!!
I hope this helps!!

Paula Lewis

 

[Paula R. Lewis]

Just bumping this up, in case the above info is still needed...


Paula

 

[Chef Endora]

Oh, thank you all. I will give it to DH-cuz I think there is an unspoken rule in our hose that says its his job!

 

[yummybytes]

sat here baffled at what a penis-a-poo was... really. wow. i'm definitely tired.

 

[chefjeanine]

Endora,

I would check in the phone book to find a company that catches critters and relocates them. They can come in and catch mom and then check to see if there are any babies. . .if there are it will be about a herd as they have several at one time. You don't have to worry about the babies being smelly, they can't spray yet.

When I was a little girl, we had a family of skunks living under a shed in our yard. Every evening there would be a little skunk parade from the mom taking the kids out to eat. My parents found a guy to come and relocate them. I asked if I could keep one if there were any left behind. Mom said yes and a few hours later one straggled out of the hole.

Best pet I ever had! We did not have him de-scented. He went back into the wild to live. A wonderful cross between a dog (he'd follow me everywhere) and a cat (soft, cuddly and lap-size).