OT. Skunks

[vqdriver]

I have a skunk or a family of them living under my house in the crawlspace. Long story but I saw one for myself the other night trying to break out after I had replaced the cover grate. I was afraid it'd spray if spooked so after confirming what it was I turned off my flashlight and left it alone.

Question. How do I make it NOT WANT to live here. I'm pretty sure animal control will catch it but will induce it to spray while doing so.

[Louis]

I would make sure that right now they can come and go as they please - you don't want to trap them under there and have them die.

[oliver1850]

you might be able to live trap them in a nearby location, but not so close as to stink up the house.

They normally don't spray when caught in a live trap, but then you have to attempt to cover the trap with a blanket or something to be carried off and released or disposed of. If it's in a live trap, would animal control handle it from there?

Cat food works well for bait in the live trap.

The only thing I've heard of that might get it to leave is ammonia. If you could get it into the crawlspace in a location other than where the skunk goes in and out it might work.

[Louis]

I just Googled "skunk repellent" and there was tons of info there on stuff that they don't like, from bright lights to citrus fruit...

[gdw]

Get a bar of Lifebouy soap and shave it with a cheese grater. Add water and mix. Put the solution into an old Windex bottle and spray it liberally around the entrance to your crawlspace. If that doesn't work buy a Colt .45 automatic, grab your flashlight, and play tunnel rat.

[oliver1850]

I have a couple of bags of oranges that aren't good for much else.

[jlwdm]

Fox urine. No joke.

Lots of skunks here in TX.

Jeff

[Blue Jays]

Purchase a couple gallons of ammonia and apply liberally.
Skunks are an animal that maintains more than one home. They will simply flee to someplace more hospitable.
Pour straight ammonia throughout your crawlspace and the skunks will depart.

[vqdriver]

how do i get any kind of good dispersion if i don't go in there?
there's only one entrance and a few vents, but i'm hesitant to stick my face up against it to see what's going on. if i put ammonia or magic solution or lemon juice around the entrance and vents, can't they just move? or is it enough at the entrance that once they're out they dont wanna come back?

oh, and no way i'm putting fox urine around my home. if anyone pisses on my house, it's gonna be me.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . .and hate Campy. Open the grate, leave your Campy equipped bike there (or borrow one to use if your taste is as refined as the skunk's) and I guarantee they will not return . . .


:D


BBD

[Peter P.]

how do i get any kind of good dispersion if i don't go in there?
there's only one entrance and a few vents, but i'm hesitant to stick my face up against it to see what's going on. if i put ammonia or magic solution or lemon juice around the entrance and vents, can't they just move? or is it enough at the entrance that once they're out they dont wanna come back?

oh, and no way i'm putting fox urine around my home. if anyone pisses on my house, it's gonna be me.

Put the ammonia in a super-soaker squirt gun. Unload.

[Birddog]

Get em out as soon as possible. I cleaned out a mess under a vacation home where skunks had taken up residence and they make packrats look like great tenants. It was one of the most vile disgusting jobs I've ever done, and I've done some stuff that would make Mike Rowe pause.

[BigDaddySmooth]

Buy a suppressed .223, a ghillie suit and find a hide, lie in wait and put a round through the ears. Skunks carry rabies and serve no useful purpose. Terminate with extreme prejudice.

[Fixed]

poison or leave em alone imho
cheers

[Mikej]

Slayer - skunks hate noise, put an old radio under there and play some Skynard - worked for me, now the guy next to me has them - he had like 5 holes under his garage and had to cement and wire the perimeter.

[Mr. Squirrel]

poison or leave em alone imho
cheers

hello mr. bro. i hear you are a cool cat. i do not like cats. they are scary and they lick themselves. what kind of wheels do you have and where do you ride?

mr. squirrel

[crownjewelwl]

We had skunks digging for grubs in our lawn. They destroyed our grass and wouldn't go away. Once your house is marked, they keep coming back. We had to hire someone to set up traps around the house. After a couple of days, he trapped 4 or 5 skunks (and a neighborhood cat) using cat food as bait. Then he drove them further upstate and released them.

[Fixed]

hello mr. bro. i hear you are a cool cat. i do not like cats. they are scary and they lick themselves. what kind of wheels do you have and where do you ride?

mr. squirrel
sorry about the poison thing bro
i do try to keep clean

..i have .o.p.'s 32 with 6600 hubs on my everyday bike
cheers
my fix has cxp33 d.a.hub with a surly fixxer
i ride in the city near big oak trees and many pines cheers

[Ozz]

Put a radio in the space and tune it to talk radio....it won't be such an cozy place to hang with humans talking all the time....this worked to get raccoons out of my chimney a couple years ago....

[Ken Robb]

a few years ago I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I had been teargassed. A skunk "went off" under my house. I thought all of my furnishings and clothing were ruined. Wrong! My insurance company sent specialists to de-stink it all with a fumigation system and fans. It took a couple of days but in the end it was like new.

We could only guess that a cat or some other threatening animal had met a skunk under the house. We then re-sealed all the vents w/wire fencing and so far so good.

[rockdude]

Put a radio in the space and tune it to talk radio....it won't be such an cozy place to hang with humans talking all the time....this worked to get raccoons out of my chimney a couple years ago....

Tried the talk radio for several days once, didn't work. BUT Heavy Metal drove them out pretty fast.

[slowgoing]

Rush Limbaugh and and Laura Schlesinger would be a lethal combination.


Tried the talk radio for several days once, didn't work. BUT Heavy Metal drove them out pretty fast.

[rickbb]

Some more info: http://www.nativeanimalrescue.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=13

And skunks are beneficial, depending on your definition of that. Extra credit question: Is mankind?

[Hank Scorpio]

If you dont like fox pee what about bobcat pee?

[shiftyfixedgear]

If you dont like fox pee what about bobcat pee?

I always get confused - which one is for fish and which one for red meat ?

[Matt-H]

a few years ago I awoke in the middle of the night feeling like I had been teargassed. A skunk "went off" under my house. I thought all of my furnishings and clothing were ruined. Wrong! My insurance company sent specialists to de-stink it all with a fumigation system and fans. It took a couple of days but in the end it was like new.

We could only guess that a cat or some other threatening animal had met a skunk under the house. We then re-sealed all the vents w/wire fencing and so far so good.

Many years ago, my wife and I returned to our apartment after a night out only to find firemen swarming our home. Appears our neighbor also got gassed while sleeping and thought the house was on fire. That concentrated odor doesn't smell as much like skunk as burning tires...

[alancw3]

oh, and no way i'm putting fox urine around my home. if anyone pisses on my house, it's gonna be me.

actually this might work. many animals are territorial and mark their territory and also smell when it is someone else's. i had a deer problem with a garden once and finally started spreading urinal (mine) around the perimator. that was the end of the problem.

[Hank Scorpio]

For deer my friend who was a hair dresser recomended going to your local salon and asking for the hair clippings that they sweep up and putting it in a stocking and then hanging them around the yard. I don't know if this works on skunks.

[Blue Jays]

"...That concentrated odor doesn't smell as much like skunk as burning tires..."Precisely correct.

[Wilkinson4]

Rush Limbaugh and and Laura Schlesinger would be a lethal combination.

Because skunks are democrats? :fight: I would have said the same thing about Randi Rhodes and Keith O. :)

Who knew that an OT thread about skunks would degenerate into some political references. Actually, it makes total sense to me. Both side of the aisle.

mIKE

ps. Praying for Giffords full recovery...