skunk problems

[ADAMINMO]

Does anyone have any good remedys that work to keep skunks out from under your house?I have already trapped 2 of them and dont need anymore : .Any help or comments would be great.Also any ideas on removing the smell from the home would be great. smiley_airfreshener smiley_smelly_skunk
Thanks

[Tom_in_Mo.]

Come on guys help this guy out for I need some relief too  :D :D :D
Adam tried the ole wise saying of putting something over the skunk and then you can pick it up without getting sprayed :'( :'(

[wesdor]

This is a tough situation.  A friend of mine had skunk problems in her home in Washington and I don't think she ever solved it totally. 

I did a google on skunk odor and found the following:

<<
A chemist by the name of Paul Krebaum discovered a solution that chemically neutralizes skunk odor. The ingredients for the formulation are:


1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (fresh bottle)
1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1-2 teaspoons liquid dish soap.
Ingredients must be mixed in an open container and used immediately. Never mix the ingredients in advance because oxygen released from hydrogen peroxide may cause a closed container to explode. The solution can be used on people or pets; avoid splashing the product in the eyes or mouth. Allow the solution to remain on hair for five minutes before rinsing with water. Repeat as needed. Do not use this solution on clothing — it may discolor the fabric.

For clothing that cannot be washed or dry-cleaned, such as shoes, suspend them outdoors, allowing fresh air to carry away the volatile thiols. The odor will decrease over time provided the material is not re-exposed to skunk musk. Any cleaning fluid or household chlorine bleach also can be used to remove skunk odor from fabrics. Use these products in separate steps — not together. Test cleansers first on an inconspicuous portion of the fabric before applying to the entire fabric.

When deodorizing a house, don't forget to change the air filter to the furnace/air conditioner. Sometimes it can become contaminated with skunk odor and continue to disperse the smell throughout the house after the initial source of the odor has been treated.
>>

It can be found at
eliminate skunk odor

[ADAMINMO]

Thanks. That helps for some of it.Any other helpful hints and comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Nudgewood]

.22

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[Burlkraft]

Back when we were on the farm we used to have a problem with skunks under the corn crib. The Old man's answer.....Mashed potatoes and cyanide....They seemed to love the mashed taters, where the cyanide came from... ???  ???

[Murf]

You have two problems Adam, three if you count the smell.......

The biggest problem you have is not the skunks themselves, it's that you have a place skunks like...

Skunks are like in-laws, give them a comfy place and their likely to stay forever.  :

Make it less hospitible and they'll be on down the road right smartly.

The simple problem is the smell, anything that will absorb the odor will help, a big bag of flour spread out on a tray and shoved under the house for a few days will absorb a lot of it.

Look around and see if you can find a contractor in the area who does fire restoration work for folks who've had a fire, they have special chemicals that will eliminate the smell, if it'll cover up a fire, it'll cover up most anything.

[treebucker]

I like science but chemistry is one of my weak points. I donno about mixing hydrogen peroxide with baking soda.  That sounds ~ explosive. When it comes to using it on hair I thought peroxide was one thing people use to bleach hair?

The old standby for the odor is large industrial cans of tomato catsup. Simply take a bath in it. It won't get all the smell out but it will get most of it. I seem to remember a Mythbusters some time back that compared commercial and home remedies for the smell and tomato catsup won. I guess them old timers knew what they were talking about when I was a kid.

What a coincidence you bought this up. I've been trying lately, without any luck, to locate what I thought was a dead skunk next to the road. Near as I can figure it simply had the smell frightened out of it by a passing car.

Yesterday morning I was next to the barn when I saw a fat skunk heading up the hill for the barn. The dog hadn't seen it yet, (I'm a little taller than he is. :D) I've had to give this dog a catsup bath once already and didn't want to do it again. So I cowered out of there taking the dog with me. The skunk is the only amimal I know that is totally fearless.

I'm not looking forward to this fat skunk taking up residence in the barn. I figure it's a pregnant female looking for a prospective den. 4-5 years back I was suprised by a familiy of them in that barn.  When it's dark and hard to see, it's a bad feeling to just make out one of those little ones threating to spray you.

Poison? Someone told me once that you can mix a little puradan(?) with dog food. They called it '2-step' because they said when an animal gets a mouthfull that's about how far they make it before death. This troubles me because skunks may not be all that get into it.  It may be illegal?

I'm wondering about moth balls?

[Burlkraft]

That would be Furadan...and I know fer sure it kills horses....

[thurlow]

Right on about the Furadan;  it'll kill anything, including YOU.  It's a restricted-use pesticide.  Some of the IRRESPONSIBLE local farmers went through a phase about 12 or 15 years ago using it to kill feral dogs and cats; it also killed raccoons, possums and everything else that ate it.  You could tell because they were lying right there where they ate it.  One of them.......farmers.......bought some high priced (dead) coon hounds because of it.  Another one was having problems with blackbirds/grackles/cowbirds, etc around his grain tanks.  He soaked some corn and scattered it around.........by hand.  He almost died before the am-bu-lance got there.

[Kevin]

Live trap them in a cage type trap, cover the cage and carry them down to the pond.
If they start doing the texas two step with their front paws back off.
They won't spray if the trap is covered.
Close off where they are getting under the house., add a few moth balls to the area.

[stumpy]

If you can be sure that no pets get in there, put a couple pans of antifreeze down.  It's sweet and when they lap it up, it kills them pretty quick.  Watch out for pets though, if they get in it, there's no way of saving them.

[stonebroke]

We had a shunk in the basement a few years ago. I had to shoot it to get it out. It took several weeks to get rid of the smell. The best thing we found that will not drive you out of the house is the can sized auto deodorizers in vanilla. These are found at your local napa store . They look like a little pop top can of cat food. You just pop the top and put them where the odor is worse. Also buy the big cans of spray febeze and go to town with it.

Stonebroke

[Burlkraft]

We had a shunk in the basement a few years ago. I had to shoot it to get it out. It took several weeks to get rid of the smell.

What did the wife think of that..... ???   ???   ???   ;D   ;D

[beenthere]

I'd a figured a way to get that skunk inna live trap, befur I'd shot it down there. 
But then, I wasn't there to be faced with that decision, either.

I didn't recall the smell would hang around for 'weeks', as I've only known it to be around for a few days. It doens't sound too pleasant, either way. 

[stonebroke]

I chased that thing around the basement for three hours but he kept running in behind the boiler and pipes. The thing I should of done in hindsight was have a plastic bag ready to put him in as soon as I shot him. The main problem was he dripped all the way up the strairs and out the back hall.

Also lots of bleach and water seemed to help. After a while you will get used to the smell and other people have to point it out to you.

Stonebroke

[thecfarm]

I have used that hydrogen mix on my dog 3-4 times and once on myself. I was standing next to my dog looking for a skunk in some corn stalks that we had for sale.The dog found the skunk before I did.Not good.My wife mixes it up in a coffee cup,one for Dew and one for me.  ;D  If I live trap them take them for a swim.They will not spray will the trap covered.Lower the trap into the water with a rope.I think I had one eating my ckickens.I caught one and had no more trouble.

[Kevin]

I caught one in the dead of winter trapping mink one year.
I made a few passes with my nose and couldn't smell it, bonus says I, eh?
I brings it home and hangs it from the joists to thaw out so I could slip his skin off.
In the living room watching tv with the wife about an hour later when she turns and says ...WHAT'S THAT SMELL ! yikes!

[highpockets]

An old man here used to kill stray dogs with eggs and arsenic.  We had the cotton gin and dogs seemed to find comfort sleeping there. Mr Herd would go get a dozen eggs. He'd take his knife blade and just peck a small hole in the side of the egg. Then he'd stick his blade in the arsenic and drip a few drops inside the egg.  In a few days there were not dogs.  I'll bet it would work on skunks.

[Norm]

I live trap them in a havahart with a lonnnnnng rope tied to it. Shot them between the eyes with a .22, sometimes they release the stink sometimes they don't.

I think skunks have a beautiful pelt but have never caught one in a leg hold trap that they didn't release their scent. That set stays there until something gets rid of it for me or next trapping season when I'm short of traps. :D

[limbrat]

I would consider restricting access to the under side of the house and leave the skunks be. They are good pest control, get rid of the skunks and you might find your self with more mice and snakes.

[Furby]

If you can seal up around the house and leave a one way door for them to get out but not back in, you should be set. Be prepared to bury fence or something so they don't dig under.

[SwampDonkey]

Put some lattice there as a barrier. You can paint it, or get the vinyl kind. Plant 4 inches or so in the soil so he can't dig under it. What's in under there to attract a skunk? We used to get one in under the cement steps, it was hollow cast and in a warm thaw in winter you could smell him. I have skunks on the lawn all summer and fall here they come for the grubs and acorns. The worst are the coons that moved in when we had a local farmer growing corn all around. They came and got into the buildings and deficated everywhere like a mouse only a lot bigger piles.  >:(

[treebucker]

I just saw a rerun of that Mythbusters episode that dealt with removing skunk odor. They tested wesdor's suggested concoction...

I did a google on skunk odor and found the following:

<<
A chemist by the name of Paul Krebaum discovered a solution that chemically neutralizes skunk odor. The ingredients for the formulation are:


1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (fresh bottle)
1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1-2 teaspoons liquid dish soap.
Ingredients must be mixed in an open container and used immediately. Never mix the ingredients in advance because oxygen released from hydrogen peroxide may cause a closed container to explode. The solution can be used on people or pets; avoid splashing the product in the eyes or mouth. Allow the solution to remain on hair for five minutes before rinsing with water. Repeat as needed. Do not use this solution on clothing — it may discolor the fabric.

It can be found at
eliminate skunk odor

...along with tomato juice, feminine hygiene products, beer and commercial skunk odor remover. They bathed in the tomato juice and it passed the test. The other 4 items were used to clean the room the skunk sprayed. Wesdor's suggested concoction passed 100%. But the feminine hygiene products, beer and commercial skunk odor remover all failed.

This info may be too late for ya - but if it happens again...

[CLL]

Be sure and don't let your wife us the peroxide solution on her her WHOOPS!!!!!!!!!!!
No telling what color it will end  up. Best thing we have found is a dog hooked to a chain where he can control their access. They hate being aggravated by anything, won't stay long.

[flip]

I'm all about lead poisoning.  Had one get in my chicken pen a few days ago and ate the days eggs >:( ...he got lead poisoning when he came out. ;)

[SwampDonkey]

Baking powder is good for eliminating a lot of odors. I had some kerosine on some clothes that I put through the wash 3 times with baking powder to get the odor out. My uncle got the idea of putting kerosine in a laundry soap jug and placed it in the wash room. Before I realized it the kerosine was on the clothes in the washer.  :

[ohsoloco]

Treebucker, as I was reading this thread I was thinking of the Mythbusters episode where they tried that peroxide/baking soda/dishsoap myth.  They said it worked better than the stuff you can buy that's made for removing skunk odor.  

That recipie has been here on the forum for a while.  I used it on my pup when she found a den of 'em  :(  I made it thick enough to be a little runnier than pancake batter, and it worked like a charm.  She's black (it's the pup in my avatar), and there was no "bleaching" problems with her fur      

I just thump the babies in the head with a shovel.  DanG those things are cute...and fearless.  I walked up on a baby and the thing was lunging at me like "I'll take ya, punk"  :D  Oh, and the babies stink too.  

[SwampDonkey]

I've noticed that about skunks to. They will turn on you if you follow to close and rear up at you. They seem to be pretty fearless critters.

[Murf]

They will turn on you if you follow to close .......

Donk, I'm not real sure I want to know why yer tail-gatin' skunks.......  :

[ADAMINMO]

Thanks for all the replys and comments and recipes.They all helped with the problem.I only have a slight skunk aroma lingering in my home , and a little aroma outside where I "took care" of the last one. smiley_smelly_skunk The airfreshner i bought didnt work so well smiley_airfreshener . If I catch another one (and I hope I dont) i will get some pics smiley_paparazzi of it.

Thanks to all!!!!

[Robert R]

I'm certainly no skunkologist but I have dealt with a number of them.  I actually look for them and hope to catch them.  Skunks smell a lot like money to me.

Two tips:
1.  If you are going to shoot a skunk, they are more likely to spray with a head shot than a heart shot.
2.  If you have one in a trap (havahart or foot hold), you can slowly walk up to a skunk, talking in slow calm voice and he won't spray.  If he starts tapping his front feet, he is getting nervous, back off and slow down.  A young skunk is more likely to spray than an old one.  Once you get within 5 or 6 feet, you can inject them in the chest with acetone through a syrringe on a kill pole.  It just takes seconds to work, I've never had one spray doing this and it doesn't mess up the hide.

I picked up two skunks off the side of the road a couple days ago.  I always keep my eye for them and consider it lucky to find them.  It is all a matter of perspective because I sure wish they'd come live under my house.

[SwampDonkey]

Murf, when I find one on the lawn I sometimes chase them off. But, a lot of times they stop and turn and I'm the one running.  They aren't as dumb as you think. I think they are actually smarter than cats. :D :D :D

[Murf]

Donk, I find em' diggin' up my lawn the odd time too, but when  Ichase em' off it's with a 12 gauge.  ;D

IF they turn on dat, den dey IS dumb as I think they is!!!!  :D

[ADAMINMO]

Just my luck fellas........I got up this morning and looked in my live trap and low and behold I had another skunk.He is a real purdy one too!I caught him snoozin and covered the trap with a blanket and picked it up and moved it away from the house,And he never sprayed. I will snap a couple of pics of it and post tomorrow if I can.I'm not much for skunks but this one is a beaut!!! If anyone is interested in it I'll hang on to it for a minute before I haul it off way away from my house.how much are them skunk pelts worth nowadays?? smiley_smelly_skunk

[Tom_in_Mo.]

If Adam ain't here tomorrow, well you will know what happened, uh? and if that happens I would just as soon he did take the day off.  ;D

[ADAMINMO]

Thanks Tom_in_Mo. !!!!!!

[Robert R]

Season is closed, can't sell the pelt legally here in Mo.  In January, they were bringing $5 to $8.  But if it hasn't sprayed, he probably $20 or bit more of essense on board.  Not sure where Ellington is.  How far from KC.

[ADAMINMO]

It is about 313 miles from KC to Ellington.We are in the southeast part of the state. Thats a pretty good hike for $20.00. Gas price would eat ya alive.I may  take him swimming this evening , or haul him several miles  away and let him go.Havent decided yet.

[SwampDonkey]

(Big assumption here) :D I can see we have a manicured lawn type amongst us.  : ;D

I don't shoot them or bother them as long as they aren't bothering buildings. They eat them grubs your kill'n with spray. ;) Of course my lawn is just an old pasture. ;D

[ADAMINMO]

Im not someone with a manicured lawn ........... just dont want them under my house sprayin everywhere.Cause they have a mighty bad stink to 'em.I dont mind a skunk at all ......... till they spray under my house then I dont like 'em.They do keep down the mice and snake population , but they also keep me from having visitors and inlaws at the house.
HMMMM .......... maybe they are better of left alone now that I think about it!!!!!!

[Jeff]

I think Donk is just trying to justify and excuse all the skunks hanging out around his place and maybe even the "cologne debald forester" he may at times exude. ;D

I try to keep my lawn as manicured as possible. I even invite a couple hundred folks over to help aireate it every august, the trouble is I keep forgetting to issue the cauked boots to them when they arrive... :-\

[ADAMINMO]

My lawn isn't manicured but I do keep it looking somewhat nice.Jeff , i guess that is where they have the pig roast is your place? Tom has told me about it , sounds like a blast .I would like to go to it but I dont think the company will turn me loose.

When i got home , my skunk had already passed on.Apparently the block of rat poison that was in the cage was something he liked.So no pictures this time but I'm sure there will be more of them till I concrete around my house so they cant dig under.