ewww. . .skunks. Help getting rid of them.

[shell in SC]

I'm asking this for a friend, so I don't have details.

Does anyone know how to get rid of skunks around a house (besides the obvious SSS). my friend is tired of skunks spraying the outside of her house and is wondering if there is anything she can do to repel them.

THANKS!!!!!

shell

[milovaný]

I posted this exact same question a couple of weeks ago, and can report that the only idea presented at that time was "possibly mothballs". I called our local animal control and they gave me a website for the "humane" repelling of skunks but I must have remembered it incorrectly b/c the page didn't load (and left me wondering if ds shooting it would be considered humane??).

Thankfully "our" skunk hasn't sprayed -- he just roots around in the early morning enjoying our backyard breakfast buffet. *Still*. I just. wish. he'd. go.

[ahousefullofjs]

We had a skunk visit our patio last year, our very curious dog went to investigate and of course was sprayed but even worse, so was our house, right below our OPEN bedroom window. We were smelling skunk for months.:glare:
I did a Google search for "How to repel skunks". This popped up, hope it helps :)

Skunk repellents

Many folks swear by this or that for repelling skunks, but there seems to be little that delivers consistent results across the board. Here’s a list of the most effective skunk repellents (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=skunk+repellents) that we’ve been able to dig up. If you know of any not listed here, please add them with the ‘tips’ form at the bottom of this page.

Bright light - Skunks are nocturnal and prefer to stay hidden, flooding an area with light can be an effective deterrent. Use flood lights in combination with motion sensors.
Automated sprinklers - Contech manufactures a device called ‘The Scarecrow (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=The+Scarecrow)‘ which is essentially a sprinkler attached to a motion sensor that will spray any animals that wander into your yard.
Spicy pepper solutions - Pepper sprays are reported to work well but must be reapplied every few days to remain effective.
Commercial repellents - There are many available types, people have also reported success with commercial dog and cat repellents (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=cat+repellents)

[Parrothead]

We had a family of skunks under the house in the crawl space. The only thing we could was trap them. Try calling city animal services or maybe your local game warden. We got the trap from the game warden.

[VaKim]

We had a skunk visit our patio last year, our very curious dog went to investigate and of course was sprayed but even worse, so was our house, right below our OPEN bedroom window. We were smelling skunk for months.:glare:
I did a Google search for "How to repel skunks". This popped up, hope it helps :)

Skunk repellents

Many folks swear by this or that for repelling skunks, but there seems to be little that delivers consistent results across the board. Here’s a list of the most effective skunk repellents (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=skunk+repellents) that we’ve been able to dig up. If you know of any not listed here, please add them with the ‘tips’ form at the bottom of this page.

Bright light - Skunks are nocturnal and prefer to stay hidden, flooding an area with light can be an effective deterrent. Use flood lights in combination with motion sensors.
Automated sprinklers - Contech manufactures a device called ‘The Scarecrow (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=The+Scarecrow)‘ which is essentially a sprinkler attached to a motion sensor that will spray any animals that wander into your yard.
Spicy pepper solutions - Pepper sprays are reported to work well but must be reapplied every few days to remain effective.
Commercial repellents - There are many available types, people have also reported success with commercial dog and cat repellents (http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/?Submit=SEARCH&s=cat+repellents)
Well, we have the lights outside, but "our" skunks could care less. We've actually had them "ask in" the house by banging on our front door, and then stand there and look at us through the storm door when we opened the door. While the porch light was on, as well as our indoor lights!

As for the sprinkler idea, I would be afraid it would just scare them and make them spray. The young ones anyway. The older ones get so they don't get scared, unless a poor dog decides to chase them. :glare: