"Old Wives Tales" NOT Working For Skunk Control!!

MICHELLE H. · 2010-10-14T23:48:49+00:00

Hi All, Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night anddestroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating theearthworms. I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in thegrass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil. Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him atdifferent times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I wasable to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but becausehe comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night andwait for this pest. Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked: 1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radiostation - didn't work. 2) Human hair from shower - didn't work. 3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Redcrushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,chili powder, onion powder. The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what theskunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is nocayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle, isn'tenough to cover 5,000 square feet!!! 4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunkactually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next toan ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!! 5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!! 6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting preciousgallons of water, what options am I left with here?? I have read everything on the internet from human urine, to bear urine,to antifreeze, to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out,because there are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want topoison anything with antifreeze or mouse/rat...

Oct 14, 2010 Last reply: 4 years ago 31 Replies

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MICHELLE H. 15 years ago

We have NEVER had a problem with skunks digging up our yard in the last

10+ years. But guess what, he was out there again last night at 4:30 am destroying our yard. I got up at 4:30 am to get a glass of water, and I look at the window, and there he is, like 5 feet from the back steps ripping up the grass and making dirt fly everywhere.

I banged on the back, metal storm door, and the SOB skunk looked at me, and went back to digging up the yard. I banged it again, and he looked at me again with an earthworm in his mouth, and went back to digging yet again! So I banged on the door again hard a Third time, and he finally wandered away.

Also, moth balls are now proven to be TOTALLY USELESS!!!! I put about 20 mothballs each in some empty plastic soup bowls, and placed them in about 6 spots where this pest has been digging. Well guess what he did, he just dug AROUND the bowls with the mothballs like they weren't even there!!!! The smell didn't seem to bother him one bit!?

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EL 11 years ago

replying to MICHELLE H., EL wrote: Hi Michelle, I have tried all kinds of ways to get rid of the skunks but no success. I bought a cage to trap but it flipped the cage upside down and got the chicken in it. That thing is very smart. I'm running out of ideas. How did you get rid of the skunk eventually? EL

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Don Phillipson 11 years ago

If poisons are unsafe (because of pets etc.) you must simply shoot the animal. Amateur shooters would probably do better with a shotgun than with a rifle.

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EL 11 years ago

replying to Don Phillipson , EL wrote: I have tried two kinds of rat poisons.

Ingredient: Bromethalin
Brand: D-con

I ground up the poison and mixed it with food. The skunk ate it all but it survived. I guess it's immune to it for some reason.

Is there a third kind of poison that I should try?

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Frank 11 years ago

Accidentally caught a couple in my Hav-a-hart trap. Skunks not a big problem and I released them back to the yard. They say they will not spray if confined but I would not chance transporting them in my car.

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clr 5 years ago

Let him alone and live with it. He's doing what he was designed to do. They will eat those rats and mice.

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Patty 5 years ago

God bless you and good luck. I am having the exact problem as you. If you find out anything to help you. Contact me at snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com. Thanks

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Dan Espen 5 years ago

You may or may not know this, but most of the posts on homeowners hub are actually from Usenet.

On Usenet, we don't see old posts, only the most recent replies. The post you just replied to is 10 years old. Please check the dates and if you feel you must reply, please include the original post in your reply.

Better yet, get a Usenet account. You can do this for free.

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On Thu, 21 Jan 2021 14:18:25 -0500, Dan Espen posted for all of us to digest...

Right on!

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Brie 4 years ago

Thank you for the hilarious story of your experience with skunks. I’ll definitely share this with neighbors and friends. Thanks for a great laugh! 😊

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UshudBMbearASSed 4 years ago

That’s some sick people, probably have a waitress that got the order wrong in the basement so he can piss on her, 1/2 drown and rape her - y’a know for the “annoyance” factor.

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TimR 4 years ago

We had a family of skunks move in at church. We trapped them, baptized them, confirmed them, and we've never seen them again.

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