HOW TO KEEP SKUNKS AWAY
While skunks are best known for their not-so-pleasant defensive spray, they’re also known for their destructive tendencies and little sharp claws to many. Here is a great resource at https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/what-do-about-skunks to learn more about skunk removal. These little guys, while often adorable, can prove a real nuisance to any homeowner that comes across them, and as such, it’s entirely understandable to want to keep them away. Plus, it’s a good thing since they can quickly solve a problem. So, here’s how to keep skunks away.
Tried-and-True
There are countless “skunk prevention methods,” although most of them exist to sell a product or don’t work. Although this article will touch on those methods later, this paragraph is all about the tried-and-true ways we at A Team Services know to keep skunks away.
The easiest and most effective method to get rid of skunks is to stop them from wanting to come to your property in the first place. These little guys are omnivores, eating just about anything they get their hands on. While that’s a good thing for a skunk’s survival chances, that also means there’s a lot that could attract one in your backyard or around your property.
As such, the easiest way to keep skunks away is to clean up food and the like. If you have a garden or feed a pet outside, try to move as much as you can indoors. Although skunks eat everything, they love food that humans and their pets do even more. That means that cleaning up trash outside, sealing garbage cans, and relocating potential meal sources will quickly keep most skunks away.
However, that’s not a guarantee — while it helps, bringing in mesh netting, fences, and physical obstacles are another easy way to keep skunks away. Fortunately, all these methods work whether the skunk’s currently living on your property or just passing by, meaning you can keep them away or hurry them out.
Maybe
While the above methods are the most effective without a doubt, there are also ones that people stand by. Although not confirmed, countless sound-based, vision-based, and smell-based ways are told to keep skunks away.
Mothballs and predator urine are the two biggest culprits, both of which supposedly drive away skunks. Predator urine works to scare off skunks, tricking them into thinking predators are around. As for mothballs, the smell is powerful and full of odor, meaning the skunks’ noses will quickly pick it up.
On top of these two, there are also light systems and sonar devices. Bright lights are great at scaring off skunks, and loud noises work to the same degree, but they’re incredibly annoying and can be pretty challenging to live with. However, they are relatively effective, as they’ll drive away virtually any animal that finds its way into your setup.
Trapping
Of course, there is also the option to trap skunks, which works as a last-ditch effort if you can’t keep skunks away. While you have your standard cage traps to enclose skunks to be transported away, there are also countless ways to cover a skunk’s habitat if they’re on your property.
With the second option, you can place leaves or straw covering a skunk’s entrance, put a light layer of dirt on top (if there aren’t any baby skunks inside), or quite a bit more. Unfortunately, this method eventually drives the skunk out of its habitat, whether into a cage trap or the wilderness.
If you decide to go the way of a cage trap, then remember that skunks can be exceptionally dangerous and smelly, making this a last-case option. However, it’s still incredibly effective when done correctly. With the dangers that appear, though, it’s best to not go through with this or contact animal control or a local company like A Team Services to take care of it for you.
HOW TO REMOVE SKUNKS FROM THE ATTIC
If you’ve ever had a skunk get into your house, you know how difficult it can be to get rid of them. Skunks are like the typical nuisance animals that can easily be frightened away. With raccoons, birds, rodents or even possum, you can use a couple of techniques to scare them away, but that same tactic cannot be applied to skunks because of the powerful chemical weapon they wield.
Skunks have glands in their anus that secretes a terribly foul-smelling liquid that it sprays on its attacker when cornered. This liquid can potentially blind a victim, and both animals and humans find it appalling. The fear of being sprayed by a skunk is real, therefore many people would rather let the animal be. But this is also not the way to handle an animal in your attic, especially a skunk. We use a wide variety of skunks removal methods to make sure they do not spray.
You can’t simply leave it alone in the attic because it will cause incredible damage to your property, plus the feces and foul-smell of having a skunk in your home can be unbearable. And the longer the animal stays, the more damage it causes.
The best way to deal with a skunk in your attic is by bringing skunk removal professionals to handle the animal in a very humane and expert way, this way, neither you nor anyone in your household will risk getting sprayed. We also advise that wild animal removal should be left for professionals to handle before these animals can be erratic, and they can bite while trying to defend themselves from perceived attack, even when you’re trying to be gentle.
Removing a skunk from the attic
Despite being a delicate animal to deal with, because you don’t want to spook a skunk, removing it from the attic is similar to how many other animals are removed. For instance, a skunk in the attic can be removed by detecting the entry point and installing a one-way exclusion door to let it out safely.
You can also use a live trap to catch a skunk in the attic, but this method tends to be a lot more tricky, and you need some experience on how to properly set a skunk trap with the right kind of bait to lure the animal to the trap.
Catching a skunk in a live trap and relocating to a place very far from your property is actually the best way to get rid of this animal. Because, this ensures that they don’t find their way back into your attic, and they completely stay away from your property.
If you want a DIY method to easily and quickly get a skunk out of the attic (although, we don’t recommend it), here are the steps to take:
Exclude skunk with a one-way door: to exclude a skunk with a one-way exit door, purchase this device from your local hardware store. It should have a sturdy chicken wire around it. Install the trap door over the point where the skunk gets into the attic, set it up properly so that the skunk will leave safely. Once the skunk is out, it will be unable to re-enter your attic. Next, remove the installed device and proceed to completely seal the hole to prevent future re-entry.
Eliminate the skunk smell: the musky odor is the most common sign of skunks invading your home. Fortunately, once the skunks have been removed, you can eliminate the odor with chemical sprays designed to get rid of the awful smell. You can also use boiling vinegar to remove skunk smell, but in this case, the smell of vinegar will linger in your home for a while. Another home remedy for eliminating skunk smell is a mixture of bleach and water. Mix one cup of bleach in a gallon of water and spray it in every corner of your attic. You may have to repeat this a few times before the smell completely fades away.
