Meg Pearson, Wildlife Training Manager
Skunks are attracted to areas with accessible food sources and shelter. By eliminating these attractants and implementing certain deterrents, you can reduce the likelihood of them entering your yard.
Lawns, especially newly created ones, are immensely attractive to skunks, as they tend to be heavily watered and loaded with worms and grubs. Skunks dig small holes where grubs are located, which can make your lawn ugly quite quickly.
How do you know a skunk is in your yard?
You can typically tell when a skunk is in your yard by their pungent/distinct odor. If you see signs of digging or upturned soil in your yard, it may be the result of skunk foraging.
When are skunks a problem in the yard?
Skunk problems are typically at their peak during three times of the year:
- Mating season (mid-February through mid-March)
- Birthing seasons (May–June)
- Winter foraging (approximately October–November) when skunks dig up lawns searching for grubs and worms
Skunk Mating Season
Mating season involves skunks seeking mates — and this often occurs nears homes. Homeowners report skunk tracks in the snow or smell skunk spray. Skunks secrete spray when they are mating and males often spray when they're fighting and feel threatened.
Birthing Season
The season of skunks' birth is a precarious one for removal — we can either relocate the entire family, including mother and babies, or we can seal off the areas that skunks are inhabiting and install a one-way valve that allows the family to exit but not re-enter. This can only be done when young are able to walk (3+ weeks).
The very last thing we want is to separate a mother from her kits. When we trap skunks, we always inspect the gender of the animal to ensure we aren't accidentally relocating a mother who may get separated from her young on your property Many wildlife companies may not attempt the extra care of not separating mothers from their babies, but Critter Control of New Hampshire considers it a necessary step.
Skunk Winter Foraging
When skunks forage in lawns, it can often look like someone ran a rototiller across your yard. In some parts of the country, fall brings rain, which saturates the soil and brings earthworms to the surface. This provides easy access to a food source for skunks.
Skunk control for your yard
Skunks are attracted to the worms and grubs in your lawn and garden. Lay down 1-inch mesh chicken wire, securing it with stakes or heavy stones.
It’s also important for homeowners to prevent access to denning sites, as skunks will readily den under houses, sheds, or porches if given the chance. Close off these areas with ¼-inch hardware cloth, boards, or metal flashing. Make all connections flush and secure, and you’ll keep out smaller animals like mice and rats, too.
Each state has their own laws and regulations regarding skunk removal. Homeowners should avoid attempting skunk control themselves and should instead call a professional due to the risk of rabies and diseases transmitted through skunk bites, as well as potential property damage from their foraging and sharp claws.
About the author
Meg has over 13 years of experience in the wildlife industry. She started as a wildlife technician and was district manager and technical training manager supporting the Southeast Region. She currently is one of the company's wildlife training managers. As one of the training managers, her primary focus is special projects and leading Women in Wildlife.
Testimonials
This company has been great. The technician Kensi was very through and checked everywhere to make sure all access points were found. After a skunk was found in the trap on a Saturday morning they came to pick it up very quickly.
Michael was super friendly and knowledgeable. He checked my entire house and recommended and installed the solution within an hour.
We are under contract with your company and so far they are doing a fine job. Many thanks.
Excellent work environment full of presence of God. Professional and dedicated staff. A good place if you want to have your children in a place where Christian values are protected and encouraged.
Great company and amazing service, the staff is extremely knowledgeable and friendly! Thank you to the staff and especially to Bubba for taking care of my property and giving it that "personal touch" to rid and maintain it from pests and bugs! Appreciate you guys and look forward to continuing business together!
Thank you!
So when I went to have my insulation replaced I figured out that I had a critter problem that was beyond anything I was aware of. Not wanting to waste time I decided to call a professional and these guys were really good from day one. From the gentleman who gave the estimate to both of the guys that came out and did the work there was great communication and they were very effective at what they did. One little thing got missed and all it took was one text message and somebody was out the next day to take care of it. They always text me when they're on their way or going to be at the house and they let me know what they found along with photographs. My first thought when they gave me the quote was wow that was a lot of money and I didn't want to spend that much and now that I've had them do the service I feel like it's worth every penny and it's actually pretty damn reasonable considering the number of times that they come out and all the things that they do take care of.
I had an issue with squirrels getting into a small section of roofing without access from the attic or inside of the home. Critter control was a huge help in solving the issue, especially thanks to Brandon and Nate. Ended up catching 3 squirrels living in the roof plus they seal the entrance point after all is said and done. I would absolutely recommend critter control, Brandon and Nate did a stellar job.
Dominick was very friendly and he consistently put on his shoe covers each time he entered the house. He looked over every inch of the storage room where we thought the animal was and did a walk around the yard to see if there was evidence of entry. He was very thorough. He did not find any animal at that time. He said he would leave a trap and review the outside area of the house over the next week. It was the next day that the smell in our storage room indicated that the animal had died. We followed the small and discovered a dead bird in an open storage bin. I would highly recommend Dominick for 'Critter Control'.
Thank you,
Valerie
Great explanations regarding findings, friendly, quality work! Each encounter with their tech has been professional and educational.
your representative (Dominic) was very friendly and quickly removed the dying raccoon from our outdoor window-well. He also shared information with us regarding raccoons on their behavior, what they liked/disliked, and provided information on how to disinfect the area the raccoon had been trapped in for a couple of days. I'd rate him 9 stars if I could. -pja