skunks

[jim b]

First visit to this forum, if i'm outta line or off base, my apologies.
Under my house live skunks. I know-eggs and aspirin and be done with them.
However, due to the dearth of real animals and decent habitat for them in my neighborhood, they are not on my destroy list.
My family is of the same mentality, yet my wife does want them to go live somewhere elce.
Can/will anyone offer up a suggestion that might persuade these georgeous animals to vacate permanently from under the house.
Thank you for your consideration, jim

[Sundance]

Call animal control???

You could try live trapping and a distant release.

Keep in mind that striped skunks are the main rabies vector in the US.

[David Stewart]

Find their entrance and wait until the youngsters are old enough to come out foraging with mom and then some night when they are all out, plug/close their entrance. Plan your method carefully as they can and will dig quite a bit when they realize it's getting light and they have been evicted. Other than that, I agree with the other poster and live trap them. Cover the trap (even the door when closed) with black plastic. The dark gives them security and city skunks often won't spray when trapped this way. Just to be certain, DO NOT transport them in the family car....Use a pickup truck. Also, you will probably only catch them one at a time this way so you will be splitting the family. If you absolutely are against killing something that is a vector for rabies, distemper and a host of other "critters" wait until the young are feeding on their own to give them a fair chance in the wild.

Good luck,
David

[BULLSEYE BILL]

Moth balls. Lots of moth balls. Get about five boxes and pour them into pans. Place the pans about your crawl space and close the vents. Everything will leave. You probably don't have any mice, rats, snakes, or bugs with the skunks living there, but whatever is there will leave.

[honeyman46408]

"Moth balls. Lots of moth balls."

I have always heard that about Moth balls but when Coons invaded my attic I placed MBs every where I could and then we would losten to them play "marbles" at night so I hope you have better luck with them than I did :(

[BULLSEYE BILL]

>when Coons invaded my attic I placed MBs every where I could <snip>

Yeah, MB's stink pretty bad ;) , we use them at the farm to keep critters, mostly rats, mice, and bugs out of the storage areas. Does a good job there but it is also very inclosed with no draft. I don't think that anything with a sensitive sence of smell will tolerate MB's, but like gramps said, "If somes good, mores better".

I had a potential cut-out customer back out, wanted to use MB's instead. I called back for a check up to see if it worked. They told me that it seemed to do the trick and to not bother them again. Go figure.

[jim b]

Sundance- Animal Control is family. He uses traps and lethal injection. No release option.

I do have a trap and can do it myself, but as David says, i am concerned about splitting the family.

My wife said if i put mothballs under there, i will be the one to move out.

At this time i think i will plug all exits but one and make a one way door of some sort so i dont have to wait up for them and guess whether or not they are out for the evening.

If that fails i will trap them, but that dosen't sound like alot of fun. My wife asked- O.K.- but what happens when you go to let her out? Again, i guess i would be the one to move out.

Thanks for all your ideas. Wish me good luck.
jim

[Michael Bush]

I think, in the end, you'll discover that while skunks are perfectly natural and nice when they live down the road, they are not natural or nice when they live under your porch nor when they eat your bees. smile.gif

Not much will cause them to abandon their home and most things that would, are likely to end up with you abandoning yours. ;)

[Ben Brewcat]

Joke for the Scandinavians:

Sven's neighbor: "Hey Sven, you used to live out in the woods when you were in the old county, right? How do you get rid of skunks under the house?"

Sven: "Oh, yah, well you know just go over to Ole and Lena's house and ask her to give you some Lutefisk. That smells even worse than the skunks! That should take care of it, you betcha."

(week later)

Sven: "Hey dere neighbor, didja try that Lutefisk thing out?"

Neighbor: "Well, yes, the skunks got out of there right quick. Now how do I get rid of all the $*%$& Swedes?!"


(speaking as a Swede kid who actually has eaten Lutefisk, before the PC brigade starts sharpening the machete! smile.gif )

[David Stewart]

One final piece of advice....If you end up going to a "hands on" removal option. Prior to doing so, go to the grocery store and purchase three or four large cans of tomato juice. Set them on the counter and not in the fridge. It will be cold enough as it is. You shouldn't need to ask "why".

P.S. Not a bad idea to store a couple of changes of clothes in sealed plastic bags before you begin the mission. Especially for your "wedding/funeral" suit.

Been there..done that..many times,
David

[peggjam]

I have trapped many skunks with a live trap. Never been sprayed when I let them loose. First, depending on how big your trap is, they can't raise their tails high enough to spray. Second, if you cover the trap with a blanket before trying to move it, you won't get sprayed either. The tricky part is getting them out of the trap. They don't always leave when you want them to, so you just have to wait them out from a safe distance.

peggjam