Posted on 04/10/2019 2:14:11 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco
There's a skunk under my deck and I'm not sure how to deal with it.
I recommended against shooting. . .and have reasons for not shooting. . .please see post 36.
Step 1: Get a black cat
Step 2: Paint a white line from the cat’s head down its back to the tail
Step 3: Tie the cat to a tree off your property and play some romantic French music.
Urinate around the opening and all around the area.
I had everything from groundhogs, possums, and rabbits, to deer that would come into my fenced garden each night and forage. So, I put hubby and 2 sons to work around the perimeter every evening with their directional spouts and like magic, no varmints.
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Concur. I've lived around skunks for years and they are pretty friendly, because few other animals mess with them. They only spray if they are frightened or feel threatened. Even skunks don't like the smell, so they don't spray because they are bored.
I knew a farmer that had a skunk that lived in his barn for years. It was semi-domesticated, because he fed it like a barn cat. It would even let the farmer pet it. The farmer told me that it was better than a barn cat, because nothing bothered a skunk and it kept the pests at bay.
They don’t come back if you take the river route. Bring one of those masonry blocks with you.
I completely sympathize. A number of years ago, we had a skunk fall into a basement window well that’s under our deck (don’t ask what idiot designed a house with a window well under the deck, but we have one). Anyway, we were on vacation and my daughter’s boyfriend was housesitting for us. He scared the skunk when he went into that basement room, and the skunk responded scentily. Skunk couldn’t get out of the window well by itself. Housesitter couldn’t access the window well from the top to help it. It was a riot.
Paint a black cat with a white stripe down its back.
The skunk will then try to rape it, a la PePe Le Pew.
“Trap it again and have the trapper take it far, far away.
Here in Contra Costa County, California the group that sprays for mosquitos also handles skunks. They bring you a trap and you are supposed to notify them when a skunk is caught and the come with a CO2 euthanasia box and do in the skunk. Unfortunately for us, they did not tell us not to trap on Fridays or Saturdays because they are not available and do not want the animal to suffer over the weekend. So we caught one the first Friday night, decided that we didn’t really want it put down, so we loaded up the trap, drove about ten miles and released it (which in and of itself is problematic because Skunks are nocturnal, don’t want to exit the trap “voluntarily, and have the means to make you very sorry you considered their wellbeing. The other thing we found out that relocaating a Skunk ( who was otherwise going to be euthanized) is a felony by state law. The other interesting outcome is that sometimes you get something in the trap other than a skunk. Like a Raccoon, the neighbors cat, or a highly POed bird.
A pan of ammonia. They don’t like the smell.
I guess you won’t be able to throw any garden parties for the foreseeable future.;-)
This may sound crazy but it has worked for us to get a skunk to move on, mothballs...throw them generously where you don’t want the skunk to be and he will move on out.
Then adopt it and let it move into the house.
“Shoot it. Now before it has little skunks. Not kidding. They are tough to get rid of. Short of taking it 20 miles away, it will come back.”
Watch out, when you think one’s dead it can still shoot back.
Numerous suggestions via Google — skunk mothballs.
Check out this link:
http://www.wildlife-removal.com/skunkrepellent.html
before i replaced by wooden deck with a concrete one, a mama skunk used to regularly take up residence under the deck to have her babies ... they only came out at night, and as soon as the babies were mature enough they always moved along ... it was pretty much live and let live and since i don’t have a stupid dog, i never had any trouble ... occasionally my cats and the skunk would like to play together, though ...
I had a skunk under my living room and called pest control. He was making a nest in the insulation. They told me about the pan of ammonia. It worked like a charm.
“As a side note, considering the effort it gave to re-excavate the entrance hole, it’s quite likely that it does have babies under the deck....... “
I hate to say this, but it’s time to call in a professional. (If you were Hillary Clinton and the skunk knew something, it would have a fatal accident. So, not THAT kind of professional.) Since you aren’t Hillary Clinton, I’m assuming, Google “Pest Control.” They will likely have a camera they can snake in for a look. The last thing you want is a dead litter of skunk pups under your deck. If you think their natural stink is bad, wait until they are dead.
“Get yourself a large python and let it loose under the deck. Problem solved.”
LOL. I have a good friend who’s wife is a psychologist. I suggested to him that she get a large python for her severely depressed patients, to give each a good big hug.
Farmer calls up the county agent to describe this exact same problem.
Agent suggests throwing lutefisk under the house.
Farmer calls back a couple of days later to report the skunk was gone, but now he had Norwegians living under his house. ((Cymbal Clash))
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