skunks

[laura]

Thanks to the person who posted the suggestion to use light to discourage skunks from making a home under a porch. I had one(?) who had been wintering under my porch inspite of my efforts to keep lattice in place. It's tricky because I didn't want to seal it up tightly if he was in there asleep and then have a dead skunk under the porch. I followed the posted suggestion and secured a shop light to a long stick with duct tape so I could push it all the way back under the porch. Then I left the 75 watt bulb burning for a few days. Apparently the skunk came "home" one morning, saw the light and moved out. After 3 days with no evidence of disturbance to the lattice, I removed the light and secured the area more tightly. The varmints haven't been back since and I didn't have to put up with any smelly repellent sprays. Thanx again.

[Doug Kanter]

Another magical solution for some situations: Buy a roll of fence wire - the kind with the rectangular openings and wire thick enough to poke your eye out. Grab your wire cutters and cut every 2nd or 3rd rectangle, bending the cut wires toward one side. Mount in the appropriate place. I think only a porcupine would find it comforting. But, it worked nicely to keep someone away from my son's strawberries. We suspect a raccoon. Whomever it was, they were stealing not just the berries, but the little stalk that contains 3-4 berries. Cleanly bitten off.