Skunks
We have a skunk living under our porch.
Our new neighborhood is filled with multi-family housing. These homes were built as single family summer homes between 1880 and 1915, and over the years have been split into multiple units. Somerville has a long history of two and three family homes since the incoming rent could help a young family meet the mortgage.
I don't really mind multi-family housing as a concept, but in reality it does mean that there is a constant in and out flow of people moving in and out of the area. On the last and first days of each month at least one moving van blocks traffic. Sometimes the new tenants are quiet, sometimes they are not. Sometimes they have indoor animals, sometimes they let their beasts run free.
This summer both the 2-family house next door and the 5-family across the street were sold to new owners. Now this is a huge number of turnovers, and as far as I can tell, almost all of these new tenants have cats. Outdoor cats that think our garden is the perfect retreat.
Our indoor cat, Cuffs Lynx, does not appreciate random cats walking past his favorite napping windows. Leslie and I don't appreciate our flower beds being used as cat boxes. The skunk does not appreciate being challenged by cats at all. Skunks have a mechanism for dealing with pushy or curious cats, and for the past two nights our resident skunk has used this mechanism.
Both nights we hear the cat hiss, we hear the cat hiss some more, and then we hear the cat wail after the scent has been released. The next part of this story, I am afraid includes the skunk scent wafting into our house, and then our quiet garden retreat smells for days.
I don't really want a skunk to be living under my porch at all, but I don't know of any skunk removal techniques. I live 1.2 miles from downtown Boston, and I am in the middle of a Wild Kingdom episode. This is just wrong! All skunk tips are now being accepted!
Our new neighborhood is filled with multi-family housing. These homes were built as single family summer homes between 1880 and 1915, and over the years have been split into multiple units. Somerville has a long history of two and three family homes since the incoming rent could help a young family meet the mortgage.
I don't really mind multi-family housing as a concept, but in reality it does mean that there is a constant in and out flow of people moving in and out of the area. On the last and first days of each month at least one moving van blocks traffic. Sometimes the new tenants are quiet, sometimes they are not. Sometimes they have indoor animals, sometimes they let their beasts run free.
This summer both the 2-family house next door and the 5-family across the street were sold to new owners. Now this is a huge number of turnovers, and as far as I can tell, almost all of these new tenants have cats. Outdoor cats that think our garden is the perfect retreat.
Our indoor cat, Cuffs Lynx, does not appreciate random cats walking past his favorite napping windows. Leslie and I don't appreciate our flower beds being used as cat boxes. The skunk does not appreciate being challenged by cats at all. Skunks have a mechanism for dealing with pushy or curious cats, and for the past two nights our resident skunk has used this mechanism.
Both nights we hear the cat hiss, we hear the cat hiss some more, and then we hear the cat wail after the scent has been released. The next part of this story, I am afraid includes the skunk scent wafting into our house, and then our quiet garden retreat smells for days.
I don't really want a skunk to be living under my porch at all, but I don't know of any skunk removal techniques. I live 1.2 miles from downtown Boston, and I am in the middle of a Wild Kingdom episode. This is just wrong! All skunk tips are now being accepted!
posted by *susan* at
9:17 AM
2 Comments:
I have a skunk tip! In the phone book, you should be able to find (perhaps under wildlife, perhaps by calling animal shelters) companies who will come and humanely trap your skunk(s) (there could be a family) and release them into a more appropriate (wild) area.
When we lived in Bellingham, our neighbors had a skunk problem - a family of skunks moved under their garden shed. This is how they did it. They set out a trap that is really a big cage, and they put a tasty skunk treat in it (I think canned catfood) and when the skunk walks into the trap the door closes behind it. The "trappers" simply throw a cloth over the cage, pick it up by the handle, drive it out to the country, open the door, and bye-bye skunk. (The team that brings the trap does these steps - we were just bystanders.)
I hope this helps!
Kristina
By
Kristina, at 12:02 PM
My property used to be skunk heaven which didn't bother me much. That was until I got a second dog who was very curious and liked to explore when he went to the yard at night. Not good.
My solution was quite accidental. I'm allergic to perfume. For some reason, people are always gifting me with cheap perfumes, sachets, heavily scented candles, and potpourri.
Usually I hand them off to someone else, but one year I got so many at once that I just put them ALL outside.
The skunks picked up and relocated themselves! They apparently don't like perfume any more than I do.
The inexpensive Glade gel candles (unlit) placed strategically under your porch might just work.
You could also try some mothballs hung in an old sock or pantyhose leg.
Once you get them out, you'll need to put a physical barrier to keep them from returning.
This link will offer some tips:
http://animalcontrol.co.la.ca.us/html/Main1.htm
By
Anonymous, at 2:36 PM
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