While skunks are typically gentle, harmless creatures, if you’ve ever been a victim of their noxious spray or had a dog “get skunked”, you probably feel a bit differently.
Known mostly as a nuisance pest due to their smell, skunks can also cause damage by burrowing under your foundation, pilfering your trash, and digging up your lawn.
For help removing skunks in Albany, Saratoga, Queensbury NY, and everywhere in between, contact Nature’s Way Pest Control, or try these do-it-yourself tips to get rid of skunks on your property.
Do-It-Yourself Skunk Control
Eliminate Skunk Food Sources
Skunks typically enter your yard in search of food and shelter, so clean up fallen berries, nuts, and crabapples, and harvest fruit and garden vegetables as soon as they are ripe. Use a tray under your bird feeder to catch stray seeds, and dispose of grass clippings or leaf piles that could contain food sources.
Seal Up Your Trash
Skunks are scavengers and consider your trash a healthy meal, so keep all garbage sealed in trash cans with tight-fitted lids, locking handles, or bungee cords. If you’re composting on your property, use an enclosed bin, and store empty trash cans in a garage or shed so the smell is less likely to attract skunks.
Close-Off Hiding Places
Skunks like to make their home under decks, porches, and sheds, so use rocks, fencing, or plywood to eliminate entry points. Keep shed and barn doors closed at all times, and remove wood piles and hollowed-out logs. If you find abandoned burrows, fill them with gravel or cover them with wire mesh or fencing.
Install Skunk Deterrents
Skunks are nocturnal and do not like light or noise, so consider installing solar lighting that remains on throughout the night, or motion sensor lights. Motion-activated sprinklers are also helpful in deterring skunks, and, if you don’t have neighbors close by, you may opt to play music in your yard at night.
Use Natural Skunk Repellants
Skunks do not like ammonia, so you may want to strategically place rags soaked in ammonia under your deck or porch. Citrus peels, pepper spray, and both dog and fox urine will also deter skunks. Scatter the peels or urine around the perimeter of your yard and use the pepper spray on trees and other areas where you’ve seen skunks.
Removing Skunks from Your Property
If a skunk has already taken up residence on your property, and deterrents aren’t working, it’s time to talk about removal. Catch and release traps can be purchased online and covered with a sheet to avoid getting sprayed, or you can make your own trap by placing a 30-gallon metal garbage can against a wall, baiting it with cat food, and positioning a 2×4 piece of wood as a ramp for the skunk to get from the ground to inside the garbage can. Whether you make your own or purchase a trap, just remember to wear heavy clothes and gloves, and carefully position yourself away from the trap exit when the skunk is released.
If you’d prefer to leave your skunk removal to the professionals, contact Nature’s Way Pest Control in upstate NY and Vermont. We use catch-and-release traps for all of our wildlife management & control in Albany, Saratoga, Glens Falls, Plattsburgh, Rutland, Burlington, and beyond.
