Unwelcome guests -SKUNKS!

[TRAILRIDER]

Boy have I got a problem! Last night my bed room started to stink of skunk! UGH. It was awful. It smelled better out the window. My living room is pretty bad too, but the rest of the house and the basement are fine. I walked around the perimeter of the house and can't find any opening, except a bit of broken concrete that I don't think a chipmunk could fit through. I went into the cellar (unfinished dirt floor, block and rock walls) with my flash light and looked into the small crawlspace areas and can't see anything.
If I have an indoor skunk I don't know where he's getting in. I do have a storage closet added onto the farside of the house. A skunk could get in there easily, but it would not lead to any other part of the house or crawlspace or basement. I saw a skunk in the backyard a couple days ago. And the barn reeks of skunk today, I know he is living there, but haven't seen him lately.
I am going to set out a live trap tonight near the storage closet. There's also a raccoon and a stray cat that have been coming around, so I will catch someone soon. I'll leave a long rope tied to the trap so if its the skunk I can drag it away down the drive way then shoot him. I do feed the stray cat, but only a can of wet food when I know he is there to eat. I can't leave out dry food because of the wild critters
Other than that I think I'll stuff a bunch of moth balls into that little opening and maybe a few boxes under the house too.
Then this weekend I will have to wash every thing I own

On the lighter side....my boss asked me today "Mary, did you get skunked?" Maybe they will send me home early cause I stink?

Any good advice out there?

[tinknal]

Well, tis the season. This is the breeding season so they crawl out of their holes for a little lovin', armed with a full arsenal. I caught a little whiff last night outside, and it is below zero here.

[fishhead]

The skunk may have had a disagreement with the coon or cat.

[meanwhile]

Did you see my Skunk thread a few weeks ago? We had a whole family of them move under a Cabin, then moved to under a Cottage. It was horrible! I also set out traps, moved them after a few days, we set out Trail Cams but never saw the things even tho something was setting the trips, we also used Moth balls.....nothing worked. We set out 3 radios, and turned them on full blast.....still nothing.

Finally - someone told me that skunks/rats/mice HATE peppermint. So I went to a Health Food Store (Green Life) and got a tiny bottle of Peppermint Oil Extract. The woman explained that one tiny drop would fill a whole room with Peppermint smell. I was not sure I believed her......but I bought the bottle, and when opened, it almost knocked me down it smelled so strong.

The first day I opened up every crawl space door and put 3 - 4 drops - just DROPS - of the Extract on the ground......right near all those moth balls we had set out the week before. We left and went back the next day. Both buildings smelled wonderful and full of Peppermint BUT - the darn Skunks had moved up under a connecting building that did not have any crawl space. That are REEKED........so I was mad by that point and I drilled a HOLE in the floor and I dumped about 12 drops of the Peppermint down the hole and then covered it up with a heavy box of magazines.......

The skunks moved out that very night! And so far, they have not come back. I did go back and I put more Peppermint Extract in every crawl space and back down the hole.....just in case.

Good luck.

[Little Quacker in OR]

I love this Peppermint thing and sent the idea to my friend in Arizona that was having skunk problems. Not only did the skunk leave the mice did too! LOL I still just trap them and relocate though. It's easy, Its safe but I may look for some Peppermint Oil the next time I am in town!

You do NOT have to shoot the skunk!!!. If you put a bit of cat food and a small tuna can of water in the live trap...cover it with a light sheet or whatever..PUT AWAY all the pets, the skunk will not mind you moving him somewhere else and letting him go. In 20 years I've never had a skunk get the least bit anxious about me coming out the first thing after its trapped, putting the trap in a quiet place and the next AM just putting the trap in my car, driving somewhere near water and just opening the door and letting it go. As humans we cut off our noses to spite our faces on a regular basis...amazing!

He will be scared so be patient and he'll come out and wander off.

By the by, a small bowl of vinegar set out in the house will really help get rid of that strong smell! When one of my dogs "gets shot" by a skunk then I have the smell in my house...so the vinegar gets things back to bearable again quickly.

Skunks are wonderful mousers but I know you don't want the smell. I hope you quit leaving out food that just draws them in. That's really not fair you know. A skunk is much more valuable than a stray cat! Skunks are great at eating snails. slugs , grasshoppers and other harmful insects as well as the aforementioned mice... and rats too. They do a lot of good for us. Stray cats do nothing but destroy the song birds and crap in our gardens.

LQ

[TRAILRIDER]

Actually I have 9 cats, and they all came as strays. No, they're not great mousers, 6 of the 9 are neutered males so they're a pretty lazy bunch! But any cat or dog who comes around and is hungry and in need of a home...I will feed and give them a home. (No, I will not give my address out )
I only put down wet food when I am sure that stray cat is right there and ready to eat. I no longer leave out dry food. My own cats are indoors, at least at night, so they can eat then. All my dogs are inside dogs too.
I LOVE the peppermint idea! I'm trying that tonight. Wish me luck

[tab]

I have found that the only time skunks smell is when they spray. That being said, it doesn't help you because it stinks! I have found, after some research, they are really neat critters and no, they ain't scared of nobody! They really don't spray unless necessary. I have made "friends" with a number of them through the years. A dog tends to discourage them from coming into the yard except maybe at night, keep poochie on leash after dark.

If you can find the "spot" bleach will counter the smell if it is a surface that is OK to bleach. There are enzyme products that work well, too.

Skunks do get into chickens and they can carry rabies so there are good reasons to discourage them. My cats have never bothered my chickens and a breakaway collar with a bell protects the birds. Plus the kitties get rabies shots so I think there are pluses to kitties as oposed to skunks (and I like skunks).

[meanwhile]

Everyone kept telling me that skunks will not smell unless they spray but at our Cabins, the smell moved around! It was under one Cabin, then a Cottage and the next week under the Laundry low area. At first I thought it/she/he has sprayed too......and maybe it did......but once the peppermint was put out, all stink went away? I don't see how just the peppermint extract could have erased it had it been a spray? I could not reach the area where the last smell was........so it seems like they just smelled? Or, is it possible that the peppermint in the air somehow erased even a spray?

I am going to buy more of the Peppermint Extract and put it everywhere! That skunk stink was horrible. I was afraid I would have to throw out every book in the Cabin and Cottage.

Trailrider: I had to put the Extract out three times. I put it in the crawl space area and then actually drilled a hole in the floor (this is an attached laundry room / unfinished like so it was OK to drill) and put it down there too.

Keep us posted and good luck!

[COSunflower]

Skunks don't have to spray to smell bad!!! And some smell worse than others! In the summer when my bedroom window is open I can smell when a skunk wanders beneath it. Even if they are walking in the middle of the road a few feet away from the house some of the stinkier ones will leave a trail of stinkiness......

[slyrei]

I have a not so fond memory of a very skunky Christmas. Just afer opening presents my dog was sent out to the porch to get the mouse that was scratching around out there... well that mouse turned out to be a skunk. The loving and loyal dog then ran that stinky varmint all over the property before finally killing it. My father got hit directly with the spray! The house had to be fumigated and we had to take tomato baths for days. Even still we were not the most popular kids in class until weeks later.

[meanwhile]

Oh no, slyrei - that sounds horrible. I hope you can laugh about it now? I wonder if Trailrider got rid of her skunk yet?

[Nette]

I've got a skunk-under-the-house problem, too! Will try the peppermint thing. Does anyone know if this deters groundhogs, too? I had a groundhog problem first, and THEN the skunk problem. Stopping up the holes does no good. They just make more.

[TRAILRIDER]

A Skunk update (or is that a skunk-date?)

I did use the peppermint extract (once so far) I used three big drops on each little piece of card board, and placed the card board pieces all along the crawl space and inside that small hole in the foundation and around the area where the outside closet is. I also put a small pan of vinegar on low on the stove. The house is nearly skunk stink free
It did smell like a pack of chewing gum for a day too, which wasn't all that bad. And the good news is....Mr. skunk has not been back around. (I think he moved into the barn.)
I'm not sure how well the peppermint will work in a barn, being so well ventilated. but I'm going to try it.

My chicken, geese and turkey pens are chain link, with welded wire fence roofs. They are somewhat predator proof, but not completely. Snakes, skunks and the occasional oppossom get in, and one a raccoon who did ALOT of damage. Normally the skunks are after eggs. I like to let some of my birds raise a few babies so I do leave eggs under them from time to time. I wouldn't go looking to kill anything, but any skunk, mink, oppossom, coyote, coon or snake that comes close to my birds is going to get shot. Sorry if that offends anyone. I've had my share of staying up all night when there's been a predator going for my birds. I have way too much time and money invested in the birds to not be that way.
I have to say...this one bit of advice (the peppermint oil) has been the best advice I've ever gotten. Thank you so much!

[meanwhile]

Oh great! I was so excited when the peppermint worked for us too. I was also amazed that the stink went away so fast too. I was scared I would have to rip out wood under the house. I am happy it worked for you too. It is nice that something so easy and that smells so good can work!