We believe that skunks are lovely little creature, but sharing a living space with a skunk is never a good idea, primarily because of their highly effective defense mechanism. And while this animal is not known for being particularly aggressive, the foul-smelling liquid skunks spray either when they feel threatened or when they mark their territory is a cause of great concern for those who live in areas where invasive skunks are yesterday’s news. But this is not the only reason why you should stay away from skunks or why you should remove skunks from your property. On top of it being a rabies carrier, this fury stinker can cause serious damage to your lawn or garden as it digs for food, and it can also spray walls, not only humans and other animals. Homeowners have all the reasons to try and prevent skunks from setting shop on their property, and as with all invasive wildlife matters, the key to prevention is restricting access to food and shelter.



Skunk repellants:
If you want to spend your money on all sorts of store-bought skunk repellents, you won’t have a problem in what concerns product diversity. Either sprays or granules, all sorts of chemicals containing ammonia, predator urine or naphthalene, there is one thing that all these products have in common, and that thing is that they absolutely do not work. If you already have a skunk on your property, no noise machine or bad odor will make it go away. The best and only repellant that works is removal, followed by habitat modification and food source removal.

Habitat modification:
Skunks don’t tend to make their own dens, but are more commonly known to use abandoned dens that were made by other wildlife. Make sure there is nothing of the sort on your property. They also like to den under decks, porches, elevated houses and foundations, in sheds, or in all sorts of holes and burrows, even under heating systems. Areas under which skunks might feel at home need to be secured with structural exclusion barriers – a deep wire mesh fence around your deck, for instance. It is always recommended to bend the fence at the bottom when talking about animals that are agile diggers, which the skunk is. A wooden fence is also an option, but it might not be as effective with other nuisance wildlife that would like access to that area.

Food source removal:
Skunks usually choose to den near food sources that are readily available. Keeping skunks away means not offering them opportunity to feed. If they’re not attracted by smells in the first place, there’s little chance they will choose your property as their new home. Garbage cans need to be kept clean, secured with a latch or lock, and preferably kept indoors. Yards and gardens that have fruit trees or fruit bushes need to be raked and kept clean so that fallen fruit or nuts don’t become abundant on the ground. Pet food needs to be stored indoors. If pets are being fed outside, portions should be rationed so that there are no leftovers, or leftovers should be immediately put inside after the animals are done eating.

Remember, if you’re having a skunk problem, the problem isn’t the actual skunk, the problem is your property, and that’s where action should be taken. Getting sprayed with their musk shouldn’t be an issue if you take notice of their warning coloration and stay away, and live trapping should also go without incident if you know what you’re doing. Often times, skunk infestation is best left in the hands of professional wildlife removers, but we encourage you to go ahead and check out our DIY blogs on skunk trapping, skunk prevention, skunk under the house, skunk odor control, and dead skunk removal, if you haven’t already. Our goal here is to provide you with all the necessary tools to handle a skunk infestation efficiently, humanely, and with no risks for you, for the animal, or for the environment. We consider that the most important tool in this context is education, hence the present website.

Feel free to email us if you have any other skunk-related questions that we can help clarify, or if you think we can further guide you in solving your skunk problem. If you need help in finding wildlife rehabbers for baby skunks, and feel that you need more information than what is already available on this website, again, we encourage you to shoot us an email. We have also prepared a nationwide directory of professional skunk control companies that we have personally verified, so you can check there for our recommendations if you end up wanting to hire a wildlife pro to take care of the problem for you.

Go back to the Skunk Removal home page or email us for more info about Skunk Repellent - Products or Methods to Keep Away Skunks