Problems With Skunks
Skunk control is necessary after they release their fumes on your property. February begins skunk breeding season in Ohio. Consequently females tend to spray unwanted male skunk intruders. Skunk control is in full swing during late winter.
Skunks not only create havoc during breeding season. Throughout the year, they damage landscapes while foraging for food. Cone-shaped holes turn up in beds and lawns. This is called grubbing. Most of the time they are eating earthworms, not grubs though. Other problem feeding habits occur by disturbing trash outside. Skunks also get stuck inside trash receptacles.
Dogs have strong territorial instincts. On the other hand, skunks prefer to be left alone. As a result, dogs are common targets of skunk spray. Has your dog been sprayed? Leave the dog outside and wash them before allowing them back inside. Consider this as a potential exposure to rabies. Consult your Veterinarian about further treatment. If possible, the skunk should be tested for rabies. Please let us know if you would like assistance trapping the offending skunk.
Bites and coming into contact with a skunk’s bodily fluids is a health concern. Seek medical attention after this occurs. Skunks are the primary carrier of the rabies virus. Therefore report abnormal skunk behavior to your local Animal Control Department. Skunk spray is not known to carry the rabies virus. Certain individuals may experience an asthmatic reaction when exposed to skunk spray though.
Finally keep in mind the potential damage from burrows. Skunks burrow underneath buildings by entering foundation openings. Porches, sheds and decks are common urban areas that skunks inhabit. A burrow under your porch could butt up directly against the foundation wall. Soil removed for the nest, can remove some of the support to the adjacent wall.
Skunk Control Service
Domicile Skunk Control:
Decks and porches are highly attractive to skunks, opossums, raccoons, and groundhogs. Block their entry with our exclusion service. If rodents are also an issue, quarter-inch hardware cloth can be installed as a “rat wall”. This will block anything from a hefty groundhog, down to a tiny mouse. Rat walls are dug down and laid over in an “L” pattern along the perimeter of the structure. This prevents wildlife from burrowing underneath it. Another option is to install the Dig Defence system around the structure. This leaves a clean professional appearance. A row of evenly-spaced, welded rods are inserted into the ground along the base of the structure. The solid construction of Dig Defence keeps intruders out like bars in a jail cell.
In conjunction with the exclusion fence, one-way doors are used to remove any wildlife that would otherwise become trapped inside. Skunks can remain in their den longer than other nuisance wildlife. During cold spells, we leave the one way door on for approximately 2.5 weeks. After this time period, the one-way door is removed, and the remaining area is sealed. You are left with a worry-free, wildlife-free zone. All repairs that Lakewood Exterminating makes comes with a minimum 2 year guarantee against wildlife entry.
Transient Skunk Control:
Are skunks coming into your yard and causing damage, yet are not living on the premises? The most common solution would be to set traps. Problems occur when you set a trap for a skunk that does not plan to come back anytime soon. Catching transient wildlife means that the traps have to be placed on the ground. Consequently they are left in accessible areas to children, pets, and off-target wildlife. The neighbors cat fits nicely in a skunk size trap.
For this reason we encourage that people having issues with transient varmints apply habitat modification techniques instead of concentrating on removal through trapping. What are some of your options?
The most common recommendation you will hear is to apply grub control products to lawn areas. Since the damage to your lawn is a result of skunks digging for grubs, this only makes sense right? Controlling grubs will deter skunks from digging up your lawn. Keep in mind though that grubs are only near ground level feeding for a small window throughout the year. So as a general rule of thumb, applying grub control products for skunks is not very effective. Did you know that the majority of time that a skunk digs up your lawn, they are actually feeding on earthworms? Good luck stopping that from happening!
Debris and Cover
Focus on removing garbage and containing it in ways that wildlife cannot access it. Do not leave out pet food or water dishes. Eliminate sources of water, like bird baths. Consider that any bird food beside thistle seed, is likely feeding as many rodents, as it is birds. Keep debris to a minimum. This means removing lumber piles, piles of sticks and even mulch. Many people have too much mulch piled around their home. Mulch that is much deeper than 2-3 inches is providing shelter for rodents, and insect pests. In other words you are farming skunk food. Concentrate on removing debris, and rodents. Work with your neighbors on it. A lot of streets have a neighborhood skunk family. Work together on a few things and you won’t have such a problem with skunks roaming the streets at night.
Skunks are attracted to cover, and debris-filled areas. This provides protection for their burrows. It also provides a prime hunting ground. Skunks depend highly on mice to satisfy their diet. Where there is debris, there are mice. Where there is mice there are skunks. Removing debris and controlling mice should be the basis for managing skunks in your area. Even if there is not any of these pungent smelling critters living under your porch, they may very well go underneath it looking for their next meal. Lets say they come across a frightening creature under your porch. They end up spraying and stinking up your house for a week. No one wants that.
A dead skunk can release odors for years after it dies. While many homeowners simply block off any burrow entrance that they find, this could come back to bite them if there are skunks inside. Before blocking any hole or sealing a structure from wildlife, you should at least check the entry points to see if there is activity. This can be done by placing small sticks vertically over the entrance. If there is activity, the sticks will get knocked down.