Skunks are considered as pests not only because of their stinky spray but also because of the deadly viruses they are potentially carrying. If a person has been bitten by a skunk, then he could be at risk for rabies. If a home has been invaded by a skunk, then there’s also the risk that the fleas and ticks it’s carrying will invade the home, adding more health risks to the occupants.
Getting Rid of Skunks
Skunks love to hide underneath porches, in the crawl spaces under the house, or even inside your home if you left a door open, allowing the skunk to get in. They are nocturnal creatures, so you’ll only be hearing them at night when they’re foraging for food. It is also during at night that you can best confirm its presence.
To confirm that your home is indeed harboring a skunk, what you can do is to place a light dusting of flour on all possible entrances for skunks in and out your home. When the skunk walks over the flour, it will leave tracks. Of note though; the tracks could also belong to other pests such as raccoons.
Once its presence has been confirmed, you can then buy traps. Now, the traps are best placed before they go out to look for food. You can place lures such as cat food, fruits, chicken, or bacon inside the trap, and you can place a dark, heavy cloth over the trap to make it darker. The dark will give the skunk some confidence to enter the trap. Also, the cloth will be able to protect you against the skunk’s stinky spray when it’s time to get rid of the pest.
Some states though prohibit people from killing skunks. Instead, they are required to relocate the skunk and release it somewhere far from their property. On the other hand, there are also some states that allow people to humanely kill skunks by drowning or gassing the trapped skunk. However, before you get rid of skunks, it’s advisable that you get in touch with your local humane society, local public health authorities, or even your local vet on how to get rid of skunks the safe and most humane way possible.
Skunk Control and Prevention
Now that you’ve gotten rid of the skunk in your home, the next step is to prevent them from invading your home once again. This means checking the perimeter of your home, looking for other possible entrance sites, and boarding them up with mesh wires. You also have to seal all holes in your home’s foundations, especially under the deck or patio, porch, stairs, and crawl spaces.
If you think that there are more skunks under your home, then what you can do is to install a one-way door near the possible entrances. This way, when the skunk leaves your home to look for food at night, the one-way door will allow them exit but won’t allow them entrance back into your home.
For skunks that are hard to get rid of, you can simply call your local pest control company. Not only do they know how to check if your home has skunks, but they also have the right traps and equipment to catch these pests.
Citations:
- The photo included in this article is a free image via http://www.sxc.hu/.
Jennifer Dallmeyer writes for a number of pests blogs and pest control sites such as Insight Pest. She mostly writes about how to get rid of pests, and she also contributes articles to Insight Pest Solutions Complaints and Have a Question sections.