Deter skunks naturally and don't fall victim to skunk activity. Check out this tutorial to learn how to deter skunks with these 7 simple steps!
Deter Skunks Naturally With These 7 Easy Steps
-This post was originally posted on Survival Life and has been shared with permission-
Chances are, if you live in a rural area, you know the scent of a skunk – and they are stinky! The scent of their spray can linger for days! Don’t fall victim to skunk activity. Learn how to deter them from your home!
While skunks are generally harmless creatures, it’s best not to get too close to them. You risk getting a dose of their noxious spray, or worse, a bite from a skunk carrying rabies.
It is common to see increased skunk activity during the fall as they try to gain the extra weight they will need to survive the winter. They will also be actively looking for their winter hangout. Skunks will burrow under sheds, homes, businesses, porches, decks, crawlspaces and woodpiles to create a home. They will enter foundation openings to get to these spots or to create skunk holes. They have large feet with well-developed claws, which make them very good diggers.
So, how can you deter these stinky pests? Check out these 7 tips:
1. Remove Sources Of Shelter And Skunk Food Such As Nuts And Berries
Skunks are scavengers, so they’ll eat anything nutritious they can find.
- If you have trees that produce nuts, berries, crabapples, or other fruits, clean them up by raking your yard as often as necessary.
- Other vegetation, like piles of grass clippings, should also be discarded, since it may contain seeds or other sources of food for skunks.
- If you have a garden, harvest ripe fruit and vegetables as soon as you can, to prevent a hungry skunk from feasting on them.
- Use a tray under your bird feeder to catch most of the seeds, and clean up stray seeds dropped by birds often.
2. Protect Your Waste
Like raccoons and other stray animals, skunks can survive on garbage alone. It’s important to keep your trash cans properly sealed.
- If possible, store your trash bins in a shed or in your garage at night, so their smell doesn’t attract skunks.
- Use an enclosed compost bin, since skunks like to eat old fruit and vegetable peels, eggshells, and other items that you may be composting.
3. Close Off Hiding Places
Skunks like to make their homes under decks, porches, and in other sheltered areas.
- Close off spaces that may be appealing to skunks using rocks, fencing, or plywood.
- Log piles and piles of lumber or building materials can serve as shelters for skunks. Store the materials in a shed or bin to prevent skunks from moving in.
- Large bushes are also good shelters for skunks. If you see skunks hanging out in bushes or low vegetation, you might want to trim back the branches so it’s not quite as appealing.
4. Install Lights In Your Yard
Skunks are nocturnal, and they shy away from bright lights. If you light your yard at night it will be a lot less appealing to skunks.
- Since the lights will be shining all night long, consider using solar lighting or energy-saving lighting to avoid paying high electrical bills.
- You could also install a motion sensor that gets tripped when a skunk or another creature comes close. In this case, the skunk will have to enter your property for the light to work as a deterrent.
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Now that you know how to deter skunks naturally, I hope you won't go overboard and end up hurting the poor animal. Yes, they have a stinky spray that can linger for days but skunks can also be very helpful. They eat bugs and other parasites that infect crops. Skunks are friendly creatures and they can become a pet! They don't mean to annoy you when they spray but that means they are scared.
Do you have a deterrent method not listed here that you would like to share? Please tell us your ways to deter skunks in the comment section below.
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Editor’s Note – This post was originally published on November 2016 and has been updated for quality and relevancy.
I’ve got a really great skunk deterrent but it’s an expensive way to go. My son and I went to buy a puppy to keep our young rescue Boxer company. He was raised on an Amish dog mill and eventually dumped at a Philadelphia dog shop. The shops owner contacted a rescue group and after a ten hour drive to Buffalo NY and a small fee, we had a Boxer. A sweet guy but he had issues. Anyway, the new puppy was adorable, very outgoing and inquisitive. So we paid a more substantial fee, collected the vet papers and the AKC registration forms and took our new baby home. Only problem was the more he grew, the more I said “Your not a Boxer”. His snout and legs grew long as he kept growing tall and topped out at 96lbs. Male Boxers are 65 – 70 lbs. He had shark eyes and a double coats. We have six plus acres tucked up against a State forest. The house is fenced and so far keeps the dogs in. Didn’t keep too much out until we got the Beast and then not until he reached his size. His first two years he got skunked dozens of times. So he has a long learning curve – what can I say. Then the third Spring arrived but not the skunks. Or the woodchucks, or the groundhogs. We can hear the foxes out back and the coyote. I know the deer are in the garden and they bed down just inside the treeline but we don’t see them. The only fence jumpers we’ve had are the turkeys and the bear. Can’t forget the bear. We took down the feeders after Beast chased Mr. Bear up the maple. Now the holidays are here with lots of packages . The delivery guys call the dogs “the doorbells”. We were obviously scammed and we knew it pretty early but it was already too late. He’s ours. He’s family along with his new brother. He’s Boxer Plus. He’s SKUNK-DOG!
We had dogs, but they still came in under the deck in the fall until I put a light and radio under there. The 2 black labs we had were skunked at least once a month. After trying the tomato juice method with little success, we tried 1/4 cup of baby shampoo mixed with a cup of hydrogen peroxide in a quart of water. Soak your smelly pup and shampoo him normally, but let the suds stay on 15 mins before you rinse. I find a shower with glass doors the best. Shaking droplet’s from Fido just hit the glass and can be easily cleaned later. Your dog will smell great! Not even a wet dog smell remains! I now use this for normal dog baths. Good luck. BTW vets and animal control assume every skunk has rabies. They don’t vaccinate pet skunks for it as most have it latent in their systems.