Skunk in the barn!

[BJ]

For some time we have had a groundhog living in our barn. He dug quite a tunnel in the dirt floor. Recently my husband saw a skunk in the early morning leaving the entrance hole..and now we wonder if there is a new tenant in our barn. Whats the best way to get rid of all these critters from our barn? With winter coming we would rather not have a skunk hibernate in the barn...sooner or later bad things are bound to happen!

[insanity]

LOL yea sooner or later.
The only way i no of to get rid of them smelly guys, is to use a capture cage and shot them so you can get them out, with out bad things happening.
Or just wait for dark and shot them when they come out.
Maybe some one else has a better idea.

Wonder what he would do if you pored moth balls down his hole.LOL smell him out.I no id move out if i wear him.

[Cyngbaeld]

Had one under the house last year. I went around and plugged all the spots the critters had dug by piling rocks in and around them. Left one hole open and waited till after dark to plug that one. Then I opened it in the late afternoon the next day and closed it off again after dark (Just in case it hadn't left the night before.) I was afraid that there might be young ones, but it was in the fall, so I lucked out. My landlord just laughed about it and refused to do anything. I'm allergic to skunk and it was making me very ill.

[uncle Will in In.]

If I had to have one or the other in my barn, I'd take the skunk. Groundhogs in or under buildings can make them almost unuseable. After the skunk gets used to you coming in there it won't pay any attention to you.. Most of the time! lol. If you can put a hose on an exhaust pipe run it down the hole and plug the hole around it. Let it blow exhaust down the hole for about a hour. They probably have more than one hole, and they would need to be plugged also.
Something to not do is shoot a skunk in the butt! I shot one that way as he was going out of the barn under a sliding door. After about 2 months It got so I didn't notice the smell being really bad.. I've shot them sideways without any bad smell.
I caught one in a live trap last spring. I got a piece of canvas and walked up to the trap from the end with the solid metal door. Keeping the canvas between me and the skunk, I gently covered the trap. I then carried the trap out to the pickup and took stinky for a little ride. If you have a water hose that will reach the hole you can flood them out and be on hand with a shot gun.

[Landlocked Lill]

I have heard that if you put some amonia in a coffee can and poke holes in the lid and put it in the hole the critter will vacate, or keep a light shining down the hole so it is always light, and since they are nocturnal, he will find a better place.....

[Little Quacker in OR]

It's simplicity its'self to relocate a skunk without any trouble. However, if you have no dogs that will tangle with it and thus you'd have to bath them all of the time, you would do well to leave it alone as they are superior mousers and ratters and eat a lot of grasshoppers and such too.

But, if it's got to go then just set your live trap, put in food and water and cover it with a light cloth, except for the door of course. Check it right after dark and if the little darling is in there put the trap in a safe place away from domestic critters until the next AM and then go release it somewhere around water. then reset it the next evening. We have had a population explosion around here in all kinds of animals(???)including skunks and have trapped dozens up and down residences here on the river. Most of the people around here who have a problem with the skunks getting under their house put moth balls under there once we get the skunk(s)out. They are telling me that this seems to work just fine. I don't know though how often you would have to add fresh ones and how safe they are for people to breath.

Skunks of any species are not a problem to trap being quite confident and won't spray if the trap is covered and they have food and water AND other animals are kept away so they won't get scared. I'd keep them around but I have two dogs who will just not leave them alone! I got tired of bathing dogs so started relocating the skunks. Now I must bait for mice and whatnot except up by the pond where one lives in a habitat I made for it outside my perimeter fence away from the dogs.

No mice up there! LOL

Can't speak for the groundhogs, don't have them here. Good luck...LQ

[bgak47]

We've been having a young skunk visit us at work for the last couple of weeks. I say Young, because you cannot smell him/her & it is pretty small. It is very inquisitive & has been trying to come right inside our building. I came within 3ft of it the other night & it did not spray or even show that it knew I was there. Lucky me!

[insanity]

Hey i just thought of something i heard not to long ago about trapping coons.If you do not have a live trap.A piece of stove pipe will work just fine.Take a piece 24inches or so long.Plug one end.Place bait (canned cat food) in the end.And stand it up at an angle steep enough so when they go in after the food they cant get traction to back out. Sounded like it would work great.And with some light frame work plus a ramp a skunk might just get caught like that.Of coarse you would need a way to plug the other end to move him to a better home.

Now who ever thought of this is real clever! Im going to try it my self one day just to see it work.Im so amazed!

[uncle Will in In.]

Every year in march several skunks get hit on the roads around here. It's a sure sign of spring. All the skunks come out of hibernation to do their thing or do one of the other skunks thing. Very few get hit the rest of the year.