| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Ninibini |
Posted - Feb 19 2020 : 9:44:39 PM
Hi girls!
Okay... So a couple of years ago we moved our garden around a little bit and created raised beds for easier access. Last year, skunks settled in. Yep. Skunks. They weren't only in our yard, they were visiting all the yards in the neighborhood, but they REALLY loved ourse the best. The stench was horrific - morning, noon and night; we would catch glimpses of them at any given time of day, and we were really afraid to let the dog out in the yard because we just never knew when one would show up. Sometimes I would be out in the garden and suddenly skunk odor would emanate up from the beds, and I would quickly remove myself for safety's sake. Furthermore, sometimes we would walk through the house and the stench would be in the middle of the house, which really had me worried that they were living in our basement! AT other times, we would smell them upstairs and no where else... could they be in the WALLS? It was awful beyond description.
SO...
I called a company that would trap and humanely release them far away They told me not to worry, the fact that they were out in the daytime did NOT mean they were rabid. They said that they definitely could be burrowing in the garden (we had and still have several holes out there to which we attributed rabbits, but no, they said, they were probably skunk holes... SKUNK HOLES??? OH MY WORD!!) They assured me that it would be extremely rare for a skunk to settle in our basement, and they highly doubted the skunks were in the walls, either. They kinda made me feel a bit crazy, but they assured me they could catch them.
Well, after a few hundred dollars and four or five weeks of trapping, they managed to catch a few cats (which they brought to a no kill shelter) and an opossum (which they released into a more appropriate setting). No skunks. They then told me that skunks can be really smart making it really hard to catch them, so they said they could keep coming out, but they would have to charge more money. I thanked them, but I honestly couldn't afford that.
I tried fox urine, I tried dried blood and bloodmeal, I tried human hair, I tried garlic... hot pepper spray... a couple of natural products that you sprinkle on the ground.. I tried planting different flowers and herbs... I tried all sorts of remedies, but nothing worked. Eventually the skunks simply left. It was miraculous. I still had to deal with bunnies, but I was so incredibly grateful the skunks were gone...
Until...
Three mornings ago, my son was leaving for work in the wee hours and walked right past one on his way to the truck. (Eghads!) Then every day since we have smelled them all throughout the house and out in the yard. We are still in winter and this is happening! What is going to happen in spring?! Yikes!
PLEASE HELP ME. I don't have a clue what to try next...
A woman from one of our local nurseries confided in me last year that she crushed glass bottles and jars and planted the shards all around the edges of the garden, down deep and up to a few inches to the top. She said she was desperate herself and that once she did this, they never came back. She said it hurt their little paws when they tried clawing through the dirt. Although I appreciated her advice - and I'm not going to lie, ever-so-briefly considered it - I honestly couldn't bring myself to do it. For one, it's just cruel. For two, the image of bleeding animals in pain really upset me. For three, I didn't want our dog to go digging and then have her suffer. And for four, I am forgetful - I could just see myself out there digging and really injuring myself! Or worse, my husband, or one of the kids in our life could get hurt.
I chose to endure the stench.
Do any of you have any tried-and-true methods of skunk removal? And rabbit removal? Last year I replanted my garden a few times due to all the damage from these vermin! I don't have the stamina to deal with this another growing season! HELP!!!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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| 8 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| ChikinsR4dinner |
Posted - Apr 08 2020 : 09:27:18 AM
Yikes - Skunks. If you're still enduring the pain - here's a few suggestions.
1- Don't use mothballs - they cause cancer and can leech into the soil (or be eaten by things you do love), and get pulled into your fruits and veggies.
2- Get an appropriate skunk sized humane trap (or several) - Tractor Supply and Home Depot have these. Bait the traps with peanut butter (unless you're allergic!). Put a tarp over the trap leaving the entrance and exit of trap open, and place rocks or logs on the sides to keep the wind from blowing the tarp away. Walk away. Check your traps at least once a day. This is more important in summer as skunks can't sweat or pant and are more susceptible to heat than other critters.
3- When you catch something.... If it's an opossum - let it go - they are awesome creatures who eat ticks and don't give or get rabies. If it's anything else - take it somewhere and let It go. The tricky part in skunk removal from the cage is letting it go without scaring it. Key things to remember. Skunks can't spray with their tails down - so if the cage is generally tight, they can't get you during transport (leave the tarp on anyway). When you get to desired location - pull the tarp back far enough to get to the door on the trap and open it and then get back in your vehicle and wait for it to exit on it's own (I had one go to sleep once - that was not cool).
I can't say I'm an expert - but I've successfully transitioned 4 skunks and so many othe rthings this way.
Good luck!!
~D
It is good to realize that if love and peace can prevail on earth, and if we can teach our children to honor nature's gifts, the joys and beauties of the outdoors will be here forever. -Jimmy Carter |
| Ninibini |
Posted - Mar 22 2020 : 9:31:16 PM
Oh, Sara.. Thank you so much for the suggestions. I WISH I could do that! I literally have a postage stamp sized yard in a very small city. I would LOVE to have a big ol' guardian dog, though - and not just for the garden! LOL!. Our Bella is the sweetest dog on the planet - SO peaceful - she doesn't even bark! She just sits on the back steps and watches the birds and critters go to town. It always amazes me that we have all these critters here where I live. Last year we had deer roaming the streets and in the funeral home parking lots! CRAZY!
I did have a guy coming out last spring trying to catch them, as I mentioned. He said that, although we've seen the skunks out in the middle of the day - even in the middle of the ROAD in the middle of the day - we don't have to worry about rabies. He said unless they're swaying around like they just left the pub after a liquid lunch, they're fine. If they're just roaming around, they're just hungry, and they probably love my garden! Ugh! I honestly think they like burrowing in our raised beds cuz the soil is so loamy and we cover it with a thick layer of straw which keeps the soil warm and protected in the winter. Eghads. Not sure if razing the raised beds to a flat garden will help, but I'm really considering it. I just love the raised beds, but having skunk homes (and rabbit homes!), is just so awful.
Does anyone think removing the raised beds might help?
Thanks so much!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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| saram |
Posted - Mar 12 2020 : 12:02:42 AM
Nini! I feel for you! What an absolutely helpless feeling that must be to be held hostage by those varmints!
My best advice is a large breed guardian dog who only lives outdoors. This is how my farmstead is protected from skunks, opossums, foxes, coyotes and wandering dogs. My very lovely English Springer Spaniel is assigned to this duty, and tho I’d love to bring him in to hang out with the family in the evenings, he is so very valuable to us as a full time guard dog that I can’t take the chance of spoiling him that way. The payback is good food, a warm bed, lots of leftovers, and praise and love anytime we go out the door. Plus he gets free range of the he farm. He is the third of this breed we have had here in 23 years and I will always have a Springer spaniel for their loyalty and attentiveness, not to mention how intelligent they are.
In my county, skunks are also carriers of rabies, a big threat as we have one of the highest rates of rabies in the nation. Hopefully you don’t have to worry about that as well? |
| Ninibini |
Posted - Mar 06 2020 : 9:13:50 PM
Grace! LOLOLOLOL!!!
Karla - THANK YOU!!!! I will give it a try! Will the dog be safe around them? My neighbors will probably kill me for the smell, but the dang skunks are tormenting all of us! The mothballs DEFINITELY smell better than skunk!
The afternoon before last, my hubby and the dog went out the front door for their daily walk around the block. They were out about three seconds and came rushing back in... There was a huge skunk meandering down the middle of our road! Our son also walked right by one on his way from the front door to his truck one morning a couple of weeks ago. And the dog has learned the smell well. If she even has a slight whiff, she won't go outside at all - or if she's already outside, she bolts right out the back steps. And I can't stop smelling them in the middle of my house. Everyone says I'm crazy - that they can't possibly be living in our basement; but why on earth would the smell be emanating up through the floor boards smack dab in the center of the rooms on the first floor?! UGH!
Mothballs it is, Karla! Thank you so much!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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| hoosiercountry |
Posted - Feb 25 2020 : 4:24:50 PM
Mothballs! Yep that is right, believe it or not they don't like the smell. We had a lot of skunks when we lived on a farm with an old barn in Indiana. Did not mind them except our little dog at the time kept trying so hard to make friends with them. After the fifth time of getting sprayed in 6 months I called Purdue University and that is what they told me, and it really worked. I used a lot of them. Hope that helps. Hugs Karla
FGOM March 2018
I dusted once, it came back. I'm not falling for that again. |
| katmom |
Posted - Feb 22 2020 : 4:39:10 PM
Well Geepers... that really stinks!! lol! sorry, I couldn't resist! lol!
I wish I had a humane solution to help eradicate the skunks... I think Michele might be right...about the grubs.
>^..^<
Happiness is being a katmom and Glamping Diva!
www.katmom4.blogspot.com & http://graciesvictorianrose.blogspot.com
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| Ninibini |
Posted - Feb 22 2020 : 07:41:38 AM
You know, Michele, I honestly don't know! I have never really looked, but dont remember seeing more than a few.. but that was years ago... I wonder if maybe they're deep in the soil of our raised beds... hmmm. I will have to take a look once the soil thaws. Thank you so much! I hadn't even thought of that! Hugs, Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
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| windypines |
Posted - Feb 20 2020 : 02:32:27 AM
I had heard that skunks come for the grubs. Do you have grubs in your soil? You might try amending the soil to get rid of grubs. I want to say lime, but I don't remember for sure. Just a thought, as we have only had skunks passing through. Except for when they decided they liked chicken.
Farming in WI
Michele
FGOTM June2019
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