Skunk!

[Popsy]

A skunk has moved in under our porch. Our Westie crawled under there 2 days ago and was going bezerk barking and came out with the lovely skunk scent. I believe the skunk is still under there. Any suggestions on how to politely ask him/her to move along and that he is not welcome here? My husband suggested spraying water through the cracks in the floor boards, but I see several problems with this - getting sprayed ourselves and the porch floor having loads of freezing water on it since it is only ten degrees here this week.

 

[zazouse]

Mabe ya could hire Peppy Le Pew

Just kidding, I never has this kind of problem, i hope someone here can give ya good advice,them are some stinky little critters ,i can smell one every once in a while just passing threw

 

[Chicken Chat]

I had a momma skunk decide to give birth under my big coop awhile back. I tried everything to get them to move on. I put a radio on in the coop for noise, I strung lights all around the coop. I tried calling several places to come and get them but nobody wanted to capture them.

They got old enough to start spraying and sprayed my dog twice. Every time I saw them, I would chase them with the water bottle to annoy them to get them to leave. (spraying is the last resort for them, once they spray, it takes awhile to rebuild the fluid to spray again, so they will stomp their feet at you first to scare you) When I saw them out from under my coop, I would take dirt and rocks to fill in the areas they were crawling in and out of, but they always managed to get back under the coop. It took about 4 months of this but they finally left.

Skunks are not great to have running around, hopefully they don't spray your heating or AC unit outside. That happened to a friend of mine and her whole house smelled like skunk!

 

[cobrien]

I would try a loud radio and bright lights, although I see that the previous poster didn't have luck. Maybe it didn't work in that case because momma didn't want to leave babies. I can say it worked for a friend who had raccoons in her attic. The pest control people recommended it to her. It is worth a try before moving to more extreme measures.

 

[Popsy]

Well it is worth giving the loud music and lights a try. I just read on a wildlife website to concoct a recipe of onions, peppers and cayenne pepper, then strain it and spray it and it works as a repellent. I may give that a try too. I don't want them to find the hen house and start stealing eggs.

 

[jaloola]

skunks go under houses because it's dark, like a den. If you light it up under there 24/7 they should move along.
Good luck!

 

[Nuclear Chickens]

I can't tell you how to get rid of the skunk but I know how to remove the smell after you get sprayed. Tomato Juice bath. Yes, speaking from personal experience. When I was a kid the lady down the street hired me to chase the "Cat" out of her garage. It wasn't a cat. I was 8 years old at the time.

 

[N. Virginia]

In addition to lights and music, I recommend some canned dog food placed somewhere outside the porch. Skunks love dog food. Put the dog food out at dusk, watch for the skunk to come out, then block access so the skunk can't get back under the porch.

Keep us posted!

Cheers,
N. Virginia

 

[amberflea]

Set a live trap with some bait in it... you should be able to catch it... we've caught several that way.

Tomato juice is a myth (using it to bath after being sprayed, only masks the odor) use dish detergent, quart of peroxide and 1/4 cup baking soda... Rub in dog and let set for 5 minutes (do not get in eyes). Bath normally after...

 

[Popsy]

It appears the skunk has moved on. No sign of him today and I let our dog out and he went right back under the porch and came back out satisfied that the intruder had left. Yes, after our dog got sprayed I used the peroxide, dish soap and baking soda formula and it worked very well. He still has a slight odor after he gets wet in the snow, but not bad. I've tried the tomato juice before and it never worked at all. Hopefully the skunk stays away.