Ok a few thoughts from your friendly animal contol officer here. First, be careful shooting them. In our town we have laws against shooting a firearm in the city. Don't want the cops at your door, and neighbors DO call! Also, usualy fish and game laws protect those critters from being shot. So don't get yourself into trouble. Call your animal control, or there is a nationwide company called Critter Control that are licensed trappers. Try them or some outfit like that. Lastly, skunks HATE mothballs. Find out where they are taking up residence and stick mothballs in there. Since they are around your house so much, thier home is probably close. They usualy like to get under sheds, garages or under perimiter foundation houses. If there is a hole or crack they can get into, and it has a slight odor, thats probably home. Try the mothball trick. Also, I have seen folks put in motion detecting sprinklers. Any wildlife, or the neighbors cat for that matter, getting into the yard will get hosed. After a few times they figure out it's not a cool place to hang out.

Good luck!

 

Along with the mothballs, you could try cayenne pepper; buy it in bulk at a bulk food store since it's cheap that way. I've used it when I've had problems with neighbors cats digging around my house, man is it effective and the result is lasting!

 

Stomper4x4, Thank you for your warnings. Fortunately none apply in this situation, I live in a rural area, where skunks are considered vermin.

But, I still do not particularly want to shoot them, they are so darn cute. I have no chance of finding their hole - they come out of my forest, and that is not a place to go in summer. I had a problem with some last year, living under the A/C but a few pounds of cement stopped them. I have been plagued with skunks in the last four places I lived - they seem to like bugging me.

 

Theo,

If one of them answers to Pepe, they might be stalking you. Especially if they bring you flowers.



He never gave up in the cartoons......

 

"*Theo's gone soft*" ...hardly,..... Theo appreciates God's critters for what they are.

As to a deterent, how about some powdered fox, bobcat or coyote urine? I seem to recall an article in the paper sometime back about the local university testing some of this stuff for skunk and other problem animals. Here is a link if you are interested. Apparently this stuff works. http://www.critter-repellent.com/skunk_repellent.htm

 

I spent a summer renting an apartment at a golf resort. The owner was trying to sell it rent was very reasonable. My favorite thing (I don't play golf unless it involves castles and windmills ) was the wildlife. A family of 2 adult and 3 baby racoons and also a skunk would come by pretty often in the evenings. I applaude your decision to handle this humanely.

 

On a serious note, I would try urine. Ya, it sounds crude, but maybe if you "mark your territory" it would be enough to make the little varmits leary and move on to another plot of land. Don't wild animals respond to each others scents and scent trails? I figure if certain scents are used to attract animals, wouldn't urine scare off animals?


Or since it's close to the 4th of July you could try leaving throwing some loud fireworks?


Or get the loudest power tool you have(circular saw), take the blade out. Set the tool near where the critters come to forage. Run an extension cord all the way to the nearest power outlet to where you can watch them without them knowing you are there. Leave the tool on the locked on position but leave the plug out of the outlet. Then when the animals are near plug the cord in for a few seconds. If that don't scare 'em nothing will. I figure that after a couple day of that noise that they would move on.

 

I like the power tool idea - I have a number of lound and noisy things I can use to scare the little guys away. There is about 15,000 acres of nothing round my land - they would much rather go there, surely...

I have a nice X10 dog box - (barks like a rottie) that I could wire up with a motion detector....... Put the dog box in a plastic bag (to protect from angry frightened skunks, and leave it in the middle of the area....

I will try that one tomorrow - it is too hot outside to do anything just now, and evenings bring out the multiple teeth bity things.

Theo

 

Theo<=> I was going to suggest bobcat urine, but someone already did. Oh well.

 

take em' out with the rifle!!!

 

I was thinking a 12 ga. loaded with some #9 shot ought to take care of them quite handily. I don't like to befriend wild critters. I think its silly to even feed wild birds. Except pheasants which in turn feed me. I don't purposely feed wild deer but I do have an apple orchard and there are coincedentaly never any apples when it comes to the first frost. eh oh well do whatever you want but don't be feeding them or giving them free rent.

 

I have caught and released skunks, it is not difficult, and it is unlikely that you will be sprayed. I have caught them with a standard plastic trash can and I even got one in a hav-a-hart cage trap.
Place a trash can on a ledge with some cat food in the bottom. The opening of the can should be on the higher ground and the bottom should overhang high enuf to make the can land in an upright position when a critter goes inside and tips the can to the point below the ledge.When the skunk eventually checks out the food, and hopefully walks right inside the can, the can will tip upright and trap the skunk at the bottom. If the sides of the can are smooth enuf the skunk will be unable to climb up. Take the trash can lid with you if you suspect you have got an animal. Be very quiet, and do not move quickly to the can. Peek inside and determine if your skunk is in there. Place the lid on, and secure the trash can in an upright position for transport.
If he /she sprays, they can't shoot up at the angle needed to hit you directly. Transport to the desired location, and gently tip the can over. Push the lid off with a stick or use your hand, but do not run away like a hysterical looney, back away quietly and calmly. The skunk will probably come out slowly and then scurry for the nearest woodline or bushes.
I caught one in a cage and I went out to the cage with an old blanket I never intended to use again. I walked up to the cage with the blanket covering me from head to toe. I layed the blanket over the cage and gently picked up the whole mess and let it go by opening the door, with another blanket over me. I figured worst case scenario the blankets would be trashed. I am batting 100 percent with three skunks and I really don't want to make it four for four.

 

Quite a while ago I took an interest in Pennsylvania Hex Signs, and looked into people who believed in "HEXing" in general.

It turns out that in at least one case - a supposed witch doctor hexed a mans horse barn by burying some mountain lion dung under the floor of it.

I also remember someone going to a local zoo and getting some lion dung from one of the keepers to bury in and around his garden.

It kept the vermin away, but the problem was shortly after that his house pets became scarce too...

I'd suggest fencing an area near the main house, and policing up the trash area in particular.

Limited fencing of only the places that might draw them is a good option -

Any garden, the trash cans, and any water source such as a pool or spa.

Also make sure your water spigots outside the house don't drip, and a three foot hole filled with gravel can be useful under an air conditioner to make sure no pools of condensate form on the surface.

If you still like to see the little critters occasionally (I can understand that) you could plant a patch of skunk (or other) cabbage at the far side of your land, and possibly build a "Skunk Condo" out of an old barrel.

-Anything they can use as a den. Simplest is to half bury an old drum, piling dirt on top of it and maybe planting some grass seed in the cover soil to hold the dirt in place later.

This will relocate the "young couple" to a safe area farther from the "Human Habitat" area of your home.

I just met up with a "Pole Kitty" a few days ago in my apartment complex - I thought it was a cat under one of the bushes...
NOPE! I looked at it, it looked at me (from about three feet away), and after a minute it turned and shuffled on about it's business. And yeah - they are cute little things. I guess it came up out of the canyon to rustle up a "Chef's Salad de Geranium" or some such.

But dogs and children don't have the respect for strange things to stand off and only watch, so that calls for some kind of intervention.


~Wolf

PS: I wish I'd seen this post earlier

 

I am glad you found it eventually, Wolf.. I will try some of the suggestions next time they commence visiting.

We seem to have driven them away, by using an insecticide on the cut grass area to keep the deer ticks in check. We have a family of deer that live in our forest area, and they forage on the lawns, dropping ticks and other things regularly, so we need to spray the tick killer.. Presumably the cute couple do not like the taste, as they have not been back since then. I am glad they went on their own accord as shooting them was never my intention, but may have become a necessity.


Theo

 

Well now - this is true. They may have gone on their merry way for now. But I think it's safe to say that you can expect them in future.

So then, how best to 'establish' them at a safe distance?

And it seems to me that they must have some sort of 'range' or territory that they more or less own... Else skunks would travel in packs, I should think.

So then, if one pair is already occupying an area near but not in the midst of your home any others would likely shear off and find somewhere else to set up housekeeping. This way you have a known pair of "Stinky Neighbors" far enough away to consider the problem managed, and you won't have to worry quite as much about stumbling on a new set later.

In addition, should they become used to your presence, I think you will be at a much decreased risk of anything unfortunate over time. There are people who have wild skunks as pets, and they don't get sprayed. They can in fact pet and feed them if they choose to...

They say a successful man is one who is loved by small dogs and children. To that list I would add 'the local wildlife'.

~Wolf