Skunks under house

[carla]

I bet some of you have had this problem out in the country. Got any suggestions on getting them out? Shining a spotlight under the house has told me that there are at least 3 under there. They are tearing up my ductwork and stuff. I just moved into this house after it sitting vacant for almost a month. They just took over. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[MR3]

Find where they are getting under the house and then close it oFF sometime in the early am hours. They should be out looking for food at that time. Good Luck!

Rod

 

[Caustic Burno]

Moth balls work as well as a 22.cal just don't shoot then under the house.

 

[carla]

I get up at 3:30 am and was planning on plugging up there holes, except I still could hear something making noise under the house. I can hear it coming up from my vents inside the house. Don't want to shut something up under there. I've also set outside with my 22 just as it is getting dark and seen one of them come out. But it ran across the road and I was afraid if I shot in the dark, I might shoot one of my neighbor's prize bulls. Can't take that kind of chance. Kind of hard to site something in, when it's too dark to see the sites.

 

[ollie]

Had it happen to me last year. Under the cover of darkness I crept outside the house to the ventcover I had been meaning to replace. Carefully peeked under the house with the mag lite in one hand and the little remington 22 in the other. There they were. Doing things unspeakable under my house. I laid the little rifle in the vent and drew a bead on the man of the bunch I assume. Didn't have the heart to do it to him. Let 'em go. walked back in my underwear feeling good about myself.

 

[MR3]

Make sure you close the opening so they don't get back in and give the one a day to get hungry then open it back up. Maybe you got one nursing babies and you will have to wait for her to bring them out. Also close it off a little earlier. Good judgment call by not shooting towards the neighbors. Shot gun might be safer. Hope this works for ya!

Rod

 

[ollie]

Had it happen to me last year. Under the cover of darkness I crept outside the house to the ventcover I had been meaning to replace. Carefully peeked under the house with the mag lite in one hand and the little remington 22 in the other. There they were. Doing things unspeakable under my house. I laid the little rifle in the vent and drew a bead on the man of the bunch I assume. Didn't have the heart to do it to him. Let 'em go. walked back in my underwear feeling good about myself.

I ended up killing them over the next week or so . Glad I didn't shoot them under the house.

 

[txshowmom]

I bet some of you have had this problem out in the country. Got any suggestions on getting them out? Shining a spotlight under the house has told me that there are at least 3 under there. They are tearing up my ductwork and stuff. I just moved into this house after it sitting vacant for almost a month. They just took over. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I bet it just smells wonderful around your house! Our dog won't let a skunk near the house. Whan they come in the yard the dog goes wild. We go out and shoot them with a shotgun. The dogs smells rank for several days and depending on how close they are to the house it usually smells pretty rank outside for a couple of days too. Good luck getting rid of those nasty critters.

 

[CattleAnnie]

A side note to those that find baby skunks cute:

Tomato juice, shampoo, vinegar, and soap do not remove "skunk perfume" from the human body. Even after several hours spent in a shower with the aforementioned products....

As well: skunk musk burns like H. E. double L. when it comes into contact with human skin...especially the face.

Also: the old myth that one can pick up baby skunks with no ill results if one moves slowly and makes no loud noises does not apply to groups of three baby skunks. They have VERY accurate aim.


(Above information posted from personal experience as a twelve year old child visiting Ontario...land of the really cute but armed and dangerous baby skunks. Also could be verified by family members who had to travel with aforementioned twelve year old child half way across Canada in an automobile with the 'fragrant' result.)


Take care - The least popular child in the family in 1983.

 

[MR3]

Cattleannie, your post brought back some old memories of the time my brother and I caught a skunk in a trap and were going to take it to my uncle to cut the stink glands out, so we could make it a pet. It was this uncle that had told us if the skunk doesn't have his hind feet on the ground he can't spray. The skunk was in a leg trap and I had a long bamboo poll that I pent him with. I had him on his back and worked my way up close to put allot of leverage on him wile my brother grabbed him. We were also told that if you pull there tail between there legs they can't spray. We didn't get that far. The skunk did this gymnastic flip out from under the pole, landed ass up and sprayed us both at point blank. We had army jackets on and remember throwing them in the black berries on the way home. Mom bathed us in tomato paste, tooth paste powder and vinegar, that I remember. I was in the fourth grade. At school I had just set down when the girl in from of me, whom I had a terrible crush on jumped up, turned around and said peeeeyou I smell a skunk. I was so embarrassed I could have died. The teacher sent me to the office and my brother was waiting there too. On the way home we stopped by the pear packing house where my mom and half the town worked. As we walked down the line looking for mom, everyone noticed the smell. We missed a couple days of school and loved it.

Rod

 

[Cattle Rack Rancher]

My neighbor has had good luck with live catch traps for skunks and then shooting them. He has an infestation under one of his sheds. he's caught seven so far. Only one of them was small. Good Luck.

 

[txag]

Tomato juice, shampoo, vinegar, and soap do not remove "skunk perfume" from the human body.

they also do not remove "skunk perfume" from dogs. this can be verified by the owner who had to drive back to college in a car w/a dog that then smelled like a combination of skunk spray, tomato juice & wet dog :shock: :shock:

 

[ollie]

Tomato juice, shampoo, vinegar, and soap do not remove "skunk perfume" from the human body.

they also do not remove "skunk perfume" from dogs. this can be verified by the owner who had to drive back to college in a car w/a dog that then smelled like a combination of skunk spray, tomato juice & wet dog :shock: :shock:

And perfume... the worst of all.

 

[carla]

Called the local game warden and he is going to come out and set some live traps. He says that the traps are in a type of plastic bag so that you can shoot them or haul them off without getting sprayed. I've set out there long enough freezing half to death waiting for the little pests to come out. Also he told me that a local woman had a possum knock down some of her ductwork and crawl inside and pushed a vent up out of the floor and got inside the house. If I find myself waking up with a skunk in my bed, I'm really going to be upset!!!

 

[TLCfromARK]

Great stories CattleAnnie & MR3! :lol: I can picture it all in my mind!

A neighbor had two small skunks ( kits?) when I was a young child ~9 and we were told that they were too young to have the stink glands active. Well to make a long story short, things were fine while us boys were petting them but then our dog came up to see what was going on. At that point the two baby skunks imployed the "shotgun" pattern defense, spraying the dog, my brother, myself and 2 - 3 bystanders plus the front porch swing and every other object within their range. Which by the was extended greatly when my brother and I tossed them in different directions in our efforts to put some yardage between us and the two babies that seemed to be sending an endless spray of foul smelling odor into the air.

I think Mom tried every thing mentioned in the earlier posts plus a few she made up on the spur of the moment. At the end of the treatment I don't think I have ever been any cleaner in my life, pink skin ( about the color of a rare steak ) everywhere but the smell was still there.

;-)

 

[sidney411]

We had a momma skunk and her 5 babies move into our well house last year. We kept smelling this terrible smell around the house. I opened the well house and preceded to pull all of the 'junk' out and lo and behold there she was standing on her toes prim and proper. The little b-witch wouldn't come out for nothing so I decided I was gunna put an end to this whole mess. Went to the truck and pulled out my 223. Do you know how big a whole a 223 will make in the only pipe supplying the house for water on a Sunday afternoon? Well I had to use the cattle trough to take a bath that night! And all aforementioned 'cures' were put to use and as said before - they DON'T work!!!! I didn't even go to work the next couple of days because I was too embarassed!

 

[Craig-TX]

Strychnine will do the trick. The good part is that they crave water when they start dying and will leave the house to get it.

A good dog will also do the trick. Of course if the dog is real good he will not only catch them outside and kill them in the yard for you, he will also bring all the other ones he kills everywhere else. And he'll smell great.

Craig-TX

 

[Chuckie]

This is what I would do to keep the smell away. It will stay around for a long time othewise. If I hit one with my truck, it stays on it for days even with washing it. Skunks love catfood. I would give them some close to the place where they come out. They feed mostly right after it turns dark, but set it out early so they can smell it. I would give this to them so a pattern could be established. You can watch from a window to see when they eat. It doesn't take long at all. Then I would move it out further from the hole each night. I would move it each time about ten feet. In a few nights, you will be able to go plug up the spot when they are eating. My Mom has skunks that come to her house each night to eat. They are like clock work. She can go outside when they are there eating, and sit down beside them in a chair, and they will not attempt to spray her. She said they really liked scraps from the table.

 

[Craig-TX]

I'll share a bit of trivia that some might not know about. If you pick a skunk up by the tail he can't bite you OR spray you. They are like a possum in that they can't climb their tail to get hold of you. And they must have their hind feet set to spray. The trick is to grab them before they get set. That is best done while they are on the run or in their hole. Trust me, it works every time. Been a long time since I did it but take my word for it, a whole lot of fun can be had. A whole lot of fun.

Craig-TX

 

[RockenG]

It would take a lot of beer for me to grab a skunk by the tail. I still remember very clearly my brother and i getting sprayed when we were jacking with one as kids. We smelled for days tomato baths and all helped but not enough for mom to let us in the house.