Playing host to a skunk is not a pleasant experience. For one these animals are Grade-A pests for gardeners, destroying months of hard work and patience in a couple of nights as they forage for food.
What’s more worrying, however, is the fact that these animals can transmit some pretty nasty diseases to humans like the potentially life-threatening disease rabies. Needless to say, if one settles down under your shed or porch (which is where they usually like to make their homes), they need to be removed. But how can you be sure a skunk is not already living up on your porch?
These are the four things can give you a good clue as to whether you have a skunk under your porch or not:
The odor
The biggest giveaway to a skunk’s presence on your property is its fairly distinctive (and frankly unbearable) smell. See, skunks have the misfortune of smelling bad, regardless of whether they spray their stink bomb on a surface or not. Because of this, you should be easily able to determine whether or not you have a skunk problem, because even if the skunk makes its home quite deep into the ground, there mostly hangs a faint odor that gives it away.
Random holes in your garden
Skunks are known to dig holes in the soil in search of insects to eat at night, so if you wake up one morning to find random holes in your garden, there’s a high chance a skunk was busy at work last night in your garden. Though other pests also dig holes for similar reasons, you can identify a skunk’s handiwork quite easily; the holes are usually only 3 to 4 inches wide and are generally perfectly circular.
Rolled up sod
Another sign of a skunk invasion which you can get from your garden is that, instead of holes, the sod is rolled up in odd places. The skunk does this in preference over to digging holes for hunting insects since it requires a lot less effort on the part of the skunk. The underside of sod is also teeming with insect life, so it makes an ideal hunting ground for them.
Dogs barking
Ever cursed your dog for barking in the middle of the night, ruining your beauty sleep for no apparent reason? Well turns out you owe that dog an apology since it may well have spotted a skunk foraging in the area (which are nocturnal by the way) and was trying to keep it out. Even if it’s the neighbor’s dog that wakes you up, for this reason, you still need to take heed to its warning; the skunk may be living over at your neighbor’s, but it won’t be long before it decides to visit you too.
Go back to the Tipton County wildlife removal home page.