Skunk Removal & Exclusion

Humane Skunk Removal Process

The most humane way to solve a skunk problem is with eviction, exclusion, and deterrents. The first step is to learn where the skunk has taken up residence on the property. If it is baby season, it is always necessary to discern if the den currently has babies in it. If babies are present, we either delay the job until they are old enough to follow their mother out, or confirm they can be removed by hand and kept with her.

Eviction and Exclusion

Most skunk jobs can be solved without a trap. We first protect the structure with preliminary exclusion. This includes both above-ground preventive repairs and barriers, painted to match the aesthetics of the structure, and below ground barriers to prevent digging. After this preliminary work is completed, an eviction device is installed over the remaining openings that lets the skunks exit but not get back in. Once the den is empty, the space gets an odor-neutralizing treatment and the final opening is sealed.

Deterrents and Prevention

After the den is protected and the skunks are removed from the structure, skunk deterrents are utilized around the property to discourage the skunks from denning elsewhere. We recommend every client continue using non-toxic repellents and deterrents until the skunks have chosen a home elsewhere.

In addition, if the skunks have been digging around in the yard, this is often a sign that the yard is filled with grubs and insects. We recommend homeowners have their lawns treated to remove these food sources by a qualified lawn care professional.

Trapping

Though trapping for skunks seems like an easier approach than the methods listed above, it very often solves nothing. The reasons these skunks chose to live on your property are the reasons the next skunks will do so as well. If trapping is needed because the skunk is a threat, or because a determined skunk will not leave the area, it should only be done after the steps above are completed.

Two Species

The striped skunk is the one most homeowners encounter. It is about the size of a house cat, with bold white stripes and a fairly calm temperament. Striped skunks are nocturnal omnivores, feeding heavily on grubs and insects through spring and summer and more on plant matter later in the year. They're also skilled diggers, which is how they end up denned beneath porches, sheds, stoops, and crawl spaces. Before spraying the striped skunk will typically give a warning by stomping their feet, twisting or fluffing their tail, and shuffling with an arched back while staying on all four paws.

The eastern spotted skunk is the smaller and rarer of the two. It is slimmer, with swirled markings instead of stripes, and, ounce for ounce, a more potent sprayer. Sightings in our six counties are uncommon but they do happen. Before spraying spotted skunks give a unique warning display: a full handstand with the tail up.

Neither species truly hibernates. In Tennessee's mild winters, skunks slow down into stretches of torpor rather than sleeping through the season, and several animals will sometimes share one winter den. A skunk problem discovered in January can involve more than one animal.

Skunks breed in late winter. Males leave their winter dens in February and March and roam for mates, and odor complaints peak in those months, since the smell of territorial spraying can carry across a neighborhood. Litters arrive once a year, typically in May or June, and the babies (known as kits) stay den-bound for roughly eight weeks. From May into midsummer, any den under a structure gets checked for babies before any work is decided upon, and when kits are present the job typically waits until the family can leave together.

Are Skunks Dangerous?

Rabies. Skunks are one of Tennessee's primary rabies carriers. Though the majority of skunks at any given moment are not rabid, always keep your distance to be safe. If you see a skunk wandering around in daylight, or a skunk that is stumbling, or showing no fear of people, treat it as a possible rabies case. Keep kids and pets inside and call your local police or the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency for help. Never crowd or corner a skunk.

Skunk Spray. In addition to smelling foul and being difficult to remove, the spray itself can be a health risk. Skunk musk is built from sulfur compounds called thiols, strong enough at close range to cause temporary blindness, nausea, and burning in the airway. When the spraying happens under a home with a crawl space, which describes most of Middle Tennessee, the odor doesn't stay under the house. It moves through the ductwork and floor penetrations and settles into every room upstairs.

Digging Damage. Den burrows can undermine stoops, walkways, and slab corners over time, and a skunk digging your lawn for grubs can damage the yard. Homeowners often find shallow, cone-shaped holes scattered across the turf in the morning.

An exterminator is not the right call for any of this. Poison and kill traps don't close a burrow, and a poisoned skunk that dies under the house creates a worse odor problem than the one you started with. Skunks need licensed live trapping, careful handling, and a sealed den site.

How To Get Rid of Skunk Smell

Home remedies like tomato juice generally don't work, they only mask the smell. Thiols bond to wood, soil, ductwork, and fabric, and the odor tends to return when humidity rises. That's why a spray under the house can seem to fade and then come back with the next rain. The first step to remove the odor is to remove the source of the odor, the skunks who are spraying. After the skunks are gone, what works is oxidizing agents, and enzymatic odor neutralizers. Professional-grade agents break the thiol molecules apart instead of masking them. On a job where a skunk sprayed under the house, that means treating the crawl space soil and framing, the foundation walls, and, in a heavy saturation, fogging the interior spaces the ductwork has already carried the odor through. If the spraying is rampant, and if contaminated insulation or vapor barriers need to come out of the crawl space afterward, our Attic & Crawl Space Cleaning service takes care of it.