A freaking skunk must live under my front porch. I can always smell it. When it snowed all last winter, something would dig out no matter how much we blocked the entrance. We could see the track leading to under the porch.
My neighbor told me he saw a skunk go under there. I thought he was daft. Now my nose confirms that my neighbor must have been right.
We used to have pest control here in Prince William County. I have had them pull sick raccoons out of my shed, and investigate invading pests of other kinds. Now I am told they will not come and remove the skunk.
Private pest control wants a fortune to even come out. I am not even sure my unwanted guest is there during the day. I suspect he sleeps during the day and prowls at night.
I think I am going to make bringing back county pest control for larger mammals that are potentially dangerous a priority for the next election. Every place it’s possible, Prince William County goes on the cheap. This is one area where I really want services.
I don’t use the library. I don’t have kids in the public schools. I don’t have children who play football or soccer. I have a freaking skunk that smells like hell. I expect one night he is going to meet up with one of the humans coming in my house.
Suggestions?
If you know where the skunk lives and its above ground get some landscape lights and point them at the skunk’s den. The don’t like bright lights and it may encourage the skunk to move on.
If you want to trap it on your own, take a big garbage can and secure it to a tree. Then put a 2×4 by it to make a ramp from the ground to the top of the garbage can. Finally put a can of cat food (open of course) in the bottom of the trash can. The skunk won’t be able to climb out and supposedly they won’t spray when they are in a confined space. (* I haven’t done this personally, so I can’t guarantee they won’t spray.) The other problem is this also catches raccoons so you might catch the wrong critter. The other problem with trapping it is that you now have a skunk in your trash can, but at least you could transport it somewhere (PW Forest would be perfect)
Good luck!
We have a skunk problem over in Bull Run. I’ve had one digging up my lawn constantly for the last few months (despite having put down grub killer and crittrer ridder). It roams the neighborhodo each night, and I see it frequently when i walk at night.
And, yeah, Pest Control won’t do anything. 2 or 3 years ago my neighbors’ dog got sprayed. So they looked into this. The County rented them traps, and charged them for taking away skunks. Something like 50 bucks a pop. And they trapped 8 to 10 of them. And the skunks still kept coming around.
I agree with you that this is EXACTLY the kind of thing you would hope a local government would have an interest in. The alternative being to let the skunk population increase?
Oh yeah, a couple of years ago, one burrowed up a hole in my trash can and slept on top of the trash bags in it, while it was on the curb waiting for pickup. The trash guys apparently saw it and left the trash intact. then i went out, took off the top and looked in to see it. luckily neither of us got sprayed. I tipped the can over to get it oyut of there, was lucky it didn’t spray.
@Rick Bentley
Silenced .22
Lots of rules about private citizens removing and relocating wildlife. Skunk under porch may well mean a female with a litter or preparing to have a litter of four or five or more. Pattern seems to be about the same, female or male. Exit the den at about midnight, return before dawn. They can be caught using a large “Have a Heart” trap found at farm and tractor supply businesses. But that is a lot of work. Because of the wildlife relocation laws and trapping difficulties, best to spring for a private pest control. Then do something to prevent further digging under your stoop.
All this sounds like a lot of work and danger of getting sprayed. If I got sprayed it would be .22 time.
Is it safe to assume the thing is under there in the daytime?
Take it from an old Neighborhood Watch veteran in Skunk Alley. Those polecats sleep during the day and come out at night. They often move by keeping to the walls of buildings, using the shrubs as cover. If you see one messing around during the daytime, beware of possible rabies. Sometimes, when behind houses and having run into a feral cat or something else which has upset them, they let off the gas bomb right near the outside air exchanger of a heat pump. Then it makes people think the critter is actually in the house! Be careful taking or letting dogs or cats out at night.
Can they climb fences? I know possoms can. I have the dogs in the back, behind a gate and solid fence. where the skunk would roam.
I still worry. I am going to try to get any open space boarded up…again.
Get a black cat. Preferably female.
Get some white paint……
Don’t know. Never saw one climb a fence. But they can dig like crazy. Try to block a skunk out of its den, and they will either move the dirt and rocks out of the way or dig a new bypass tunnel, especially if there are little ones in the den. I think, however, that they are not likely to tunnel under your dog fence if they sense or smell or hear the dogs in there. Can’t say, though, what they might do if there is dog food inside the fence. They aren’t afraid of much, but they don’t seem to like to pick fights. I’ve chased them away from garbage bag feasts and even hit one accidently with a big stick. They all ran for it without spraying. However, if they feel cornered………gotta leave ’em an escape route.
We had one here that we called “Big Daddy.” He was huge and he was almost all white fur from nose to end of tail except for a narrow strip of black on the belly. Never saw one like that before. It wasn’t too long before we had quite a few young skunklets in the neighborhood.
Big Daddy was quite the stud muffin then. How did you tell the gender? Is it obvious?
I don’t feed the dogs outside so maybe that is a plus on my side.
This thing digs for sure. I just don’t see peaceful coexistence in the cards.
I have a wooden porch over an old concrete porch. It was cheaper to built over than to jack hammer out. My neighbor told me he saw a skunk going in. The grandkids told me they saw a skunk. why am I still in denial?
I kept telling myself my neighbor was old and might have not seen right. I told myself that the grandkids lie and make up stuff for attention. I think Pepe is real.
Gender? I just guessed because of the huge size. Didn’t dare get too close to that one. It might have required a train car load of tomato juice and a big wash tub in the back yard in order to be allowed back into human society.
Too funny, Wolve BTW, how does your species fare against the dreaded skunk. Who wins when the wolverine must battle the skunk?
I didn’t smell him yesterday. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.
I know that the Hav-a-heart traps work well. I’ve used them for squirrels. I’d say the main problem is once you’ve got him/her trapped, what then? I suppose you could call animal control, since you’ve done most of the work.
As far as private citizens “relocating” trapped wild-life, while it is perfectly legal to trap a “nuisance species” on private property, it is illegal to relocate them to public property, or private property, unless you have permission from the owner of said property.
Air rifles can be legally discharged on your property, as long as the BB or pellet doesn’t leave your property.
So, I would suggest getting a hav-a-heart, and trapping said animal. Call animal control, and ask them to remove it. If they refuse, dispatch said animal with an air-rifle, outside of “spray range”. Some may think this cruel, but this animal can end up causing a good deal of damage to your property, or could ultimately bite or spray one of your dogs, or even you. Additionally, a litter of kits would urinate and defecate in the den, which can be a health issue. A dead skunk in the burrow would be even worse.
Thank you Steve, Rick and Wolve for your help and advice.
Steve asks the question, yes, then what. I don’t think Prince William will send anyone. That’s no longer a county service. I am afraid it would spray me. Where it lives is right under my front door I think.
I am having the inlets and outlets blocked, again. If they move, I call a pest controller. I was hoping to wait until next month.
Somebody at work said that used cat litter spread around the entrance to the skunk’s den will encourage it to move on. If you’ve got a cat, that seems like a pretty easy fix.
“If you’ve got a cat, that seems like a pretty easy fix.”
Till a family of feral cats moves into the den, since it’s “move in ready” and includes convenient bathroom facilities…. I was talking to someone who objected to my methods of controlling the local squirrels who do a fair amount of damage to my fruit and vegetable crops. They suggested Coyote urine…I laughed at them. I have two dogs, who are not particular about where they pee. If dog pee won’t keep them away, coyote pee won’t either.
Our house-mate has boarded up all outlets. He is going to check daily. If something is torn down, I plan on calling Steve to come pellet it to death. I simply don’t care. Steve, want a job?
I thought this thing was a feral cat. whatever it is, it digs. You can buy skunk repellant I am told. Southern states.
“Get a black cat. Preferably female.
Get some white paint……”
Get a Honey Badger, who will drive any and all interlopers from the area. The only downside is, then you’ll have to deal with a Honey Badger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c36UNSoJenI
“I thought this thing was a feral cat. whatever it is, it digs. You can buy skunk repellant I am told. Southern states.”
The repellants don’t work. I’ve tried the hot-pepper sprays, and the stuff you sprinkle in the garden. All it did for my pests was for them to develop a taste for Cajun food. Mrs. T has a big heart for animals, so she made me exhaust all of the “deterrents” before I was cleared to use lethal force…now I eliminate them.
“I’d say the main problem is once you’ve got him/her trapped, what then? I suppose you could call animal control, since you’ve done most of the work.”
They’ll remove it, and put it to sleep, but they do charge for it as my neighbors found out. I think 50 bucks or so.
If I had one trapped and was too cheap to pay the county to take it away, I guess i’d drown it. I know someone who drowned several squirrels. Not much to it. But it seems to me the skunk is quite likley to spray as soon as you pick up the trap. Not sure what the county’s technique is.
@Moon-howler
Wolverine was also a “skunk scout” during late night and early morning Neighborhood Watch patrols. We were fortunate enough to have a private pest control company under contract with the HOA. We spotted and tailed the critters and then told the HOA and pest control where to find them. Good thing. At one point, we had skunks under three front stoops all in the same row of townhouses. When I walked by, I trained the flashlight on the holes and could see their eyes as they waited for me to go by before scooting out for their nighttime food searches.
Once, as I was sitting on our own front stoop for a break from foot patrols, a skunk came walking by. When I trained the light on him, he did not flee but, rather, did a quarter turn and walked right up to me. He stood there looking at me for a few seconds and then just turned and calmly walked away, as if he had decided that the old geezer wasn’t even worth a spraying.
Then there was the time, also on a patrol break, when I looked down in the darkness and noticed that Mrs. W had planted more hostas near the front stoop. So I idly stuck a big stick down into the hostas. (Don’t ask me why. It was a slow night.) Turns out the hosta plant was actually the tail of a skunk who had been sitting silently right next to me. No spray. He just took off like a shot. I nearly fell off the chair.
Mrs. W once mentioned the possibility of purchasing a large store of tomato juice.
I talked to my neighbor tonight. He says that they live over next to his kitchen stoop. He will knock on the window for them to leave. Great. They probably come to my house. Now listen to this!!! Big Daddy must have a cousin in Manassas. Neighbor told me that one of the skunks was almost completely white. The other one it hangs out with is normal…black with a white stripe and markings.
I could smell skunk all day. We might have trapped one under the porch. Woe is me. I will call the county and scream if I hear anything.
Too funny about your personal encounters. I especially like the hosta story. supposedly you should use dawn on skunk spray. It cuts through oil. I don’t want to find out.