Dead skunk parts photos (not too gross)

[meanwhile]

OK - finally here are photos. My sons took another piece of metal off the crawlspace to the Cabin with skunk damage. They hauled two chunks of hair out over the weekend but still could not find any body parts. Today we took more photos and can see chunks of hair tossed in several places. Something must have killed the skunk and eaten it? What in the world would have eaten a skunk and not minded all the stink?

The smell underneath is still very bad. We finally found OdorBan at Home Depot in town and so we are buying it tonight and spraying as far as we can up under there. Will let you know if it works.

The photos are not too bad. Just hair but - if someone is squeamish about such things, please just don't look at all the photos. The link here is to all the photos:
Meanwhile, Back in Saluda | Facebook

And here is one:

[Paquebot]

From what information is available, it appears that owls are about the only natural predator of live skunks. If dead, just about any other carnivore would probably eat them.

Martin

[meanwhile]

The hair was all tossed here and there. We saw more hair in another area but it was over a dirt mound and so that might have been a nest. I wonder if the skunk sprays when in the process of dying? Or do they just up and die and the stink glands just rot?

Probably something scared it or killed it up under the Cabin. I don't think a coyote could get under there at that point since the holes were not big enough. After the stink began we opened up the crawlspace. So - maybe the skunk sprayed and died and when we opened the crawlspace, a coyote went in there and eat it?

Anyway - it smells just horrible still underneath. My husband is on the way to the store now and tomorrow we will spray as much as we can with the OdorBan and see if that helps any. Surely it will not make it worse!

Never a dull moment.

[Squeaky McMurdo]

It may have been another skunk that killed it. Or a weasel or mink. Same mustilaed family so they don't mind stink and are fearless enough to take on something bigger than them.

[OkieDavid]

Skunks use sphincter muscles to keep their musk glands closed. Muscles require blood to constrict so when you lose blood flow/pressure, the muscles relax. That is why/how a "dead skunk" sprays. Not so much of a spray but rather an ooze.......

[Waiting Falcon]

Sounds like a wolverine but I do not know if they are in your area.

[nc_mtn]

Nope Waiting, we don't have any of those in Western NC..... well perhaps my mother-in-law but that's a bit different...

[meanwhile]

We suspect the skunk died under the house and maybe sprayed first. The smell was beginning to fade but then, we opened up the crawlspace and we think maybe a coyote got under there and ate it thus spreading the nasty bits. The smell came back and .....just gross. My husband picked up the OdorBan and will spray it tomorrow. We called the company to be sure of the mixture they suggest.

Will let you know how it goes. Thanks everyone. I hope this does not happen to anyone else. Just gross.

[beccachow]

Nature's Miracle is a lifesaver with skunk.

[meanwhile]

beccachow: Is Nature's miracle the same chemical as the OdorBan?

Thanks everyone.

[Big Dave]

YES the skunk relaxes when dying and the pee comes out. If you have a Walgreens (They may have it) look for a product called OZUM. This spray will kill any oders. In a funeral home I worked at in Texas it was used to mask some really awful smells. Works good.

[meanwhile]

Well - fiddle. We sprayed three gallons of the OdorBan mix (3 gallons water with 24 ounces of the OdorBan) and so far, not much results. The underneath still reeks of skunk and the inside not so much but still not fresh.

We just bought some incense and are burning it on the inside to freshen up inside more plus we want to fog the inside so the fabric and furniture gets fresher.

Underneath we are going to wait till tomorrow and see if the OdorBan worked better after leaving it alone for a day.

[pamda]

Seriously, I think some vinegar..peroxide and dawn soap is in order...it worked well on the neighbors dog (dumb dog). Put it in a sprayer and get it all over the place..you might have to find a way to scrap some dirt out of there..it is prob. held stink as is the wood...sorry this is happening.

[meanwhile]

Yes, we are thinking about what to do next. Since we are not using this Cabin over the winter, we do not have to worry about people in there. However, the inside still smells bad if we stop putting the Eucalyptus oil out and we have so much fabric and furniture in there. Today we lit about ten sticks of incense but it keeps burning out. Maybe it is a bad batch and so we are going to get more incense to fog up the inside and hope it will fog everything in there.

I hate skunks. What a mess. I would not wish this on anyone.......well.....maybe I would wish it on a few people I don't like ......but not on just anyone.

Thanks everyone.

[Glacialtill]

We had a skunk die up in our bushes a year or two ago. Smelled pretty bad. Poked around finally and found the remains. Looks like it found some sort of new fangled plastic rat trap, got caught on a leg and went to our bushes to die. I just put a bunch of wood ashes on the remains and within a week, no more smell. Lime should do the same thing I figure.

You might want to try spraying under the porch with the peroxide baking soda mix that's recommended for cleaning off skunked pets. Apparently the peroxide mix actually breaks down the stinky oil. Incense etc will only mask the smell.

Here's an interesting link: Publication: Removing Skunk Odor

[meanwhile]

I don't think we can put the peroxide and baking soda mix in a spray tank? We cannot reach the area where the dead parts were located. We did get the OdorBan spray to reach it and we wet it down good with the OdorBan but that did not seem to work good at all and we hate the smell of the OdorBan. It smells like a janitorial supply cleaning closet! But, that might just be us since we don't use much store-bought cleaning supplies then the smell was not pleasant to us. And, in addition, it did not seem to remove the skunk smell at all.

I wonder if we can just mix up the peroxide and baking soda in a bowl that we tape to the long bamboo pole, shove it under there and tip it over? Maybe the mix would kill the skunk stink in the ground? Maybe that will be the next project.

This has taken up so much time and money it is not only annoying but it is also upsetting. I hope a skunk does not get anyone else. I know it will and so maybe this discussion will help someone else be able to get rid of the nasty smell faster.

Will let you know if we mix up the peroxide and dump it under there. For now, we are just staying away and waiting it out. Thanks everyone.

[blooba]

If no one is gonna be using the cabin for the winter i would leave it alone and the smell will be gone by spring.

[meanwhile]

blooba: Yes, I agree. I have not gone up there for three days now. It got to be an annoying problem and upsetting too. Since no one needs to stay there for a while, we are going to let it air out and just check on it later.

Thanks everyone. Happy Thanksgiving. I am thankful the skunk did not get under my house.