Unwelcome visitors can raise a spring stink

As you drive through the community, you will start to notice that spring is in the air. It’s not because tree buds are beginning to swell or that crocus are blooming in the flower beds. Rather, this seasonal smell is produced by the increased number of skunks lying roadside.

Skunks are not normally welcome in any home landscape, but they are found regularly in the wild and sometimes wander into areas where we live. Here is the black-and-white truth about these smelly visitors and what you can do when one takes up residency near your home.

Skunks are members of the weasel family. Because they are nocturnal, they usually conduct most of their business at night. With short, stocky legs and well-developed claws on the forefeet, they are good at digging but not at climbing.

Skunks eat plant and animal parts. They prefer insect pests such as grasshoppers, beetles and crickets, but they also eat mice, rats, rabbits and other small animals they capture.

Adult skunks begin breeding in late February. Females born last year mate in late March. Gestation lasts seven to 10 weeks. So adult females give birth in early May, while younger females have their babies in early June.

The normal range of an adult is up to two miles. However, a male skunk may travel up to five miles each night during breeding season. That’s why we see so many on the side of the road this time of year.

Skunks become a nuisance when their burrowing and feeding habits conflict with our own. They burrow under porches or buildings. They enter foundation openings and rummage through garbage and refuse left outdoors.

The best method of control is prevention. To keep skunks from building dens under buildings, cover all foundation openings with wire mesh screen. If possible, bury the screen at least a foot deep so skunks cannot gain access by digging.

If a skunk has taken up residency under your porch, patio or drive, there are several options for removal.

The first method is to seal off the opening. Completely cover all openings accept for one. Then sprinkle flour a foot or so in front of the hole. Return later that night and check for footprints, which indicate the skunk has left for the evening, then completely cover the hole. Just after sundown the next evening, open the entrance for one hour to allow any remaining skunks to exit and permanently seal the hole.

The second option is to “live trap” the skunk. Place the trap close to the entrance and bait it with fish-flavored cat food or peanut butter. Cover all but the entrance to the trap with a heavy, dark tarp, which will keep the trapped skunk docile and easy to move. Transport the skunk at least 10 miles away and release it by using a long line tied to the door of the cage.

The final option is to create an odor that skunks don’t like by placing mothballs or rags dipped in ammonia in the den area. Although this is not effective all the time, it may help until other measures are enacted.


 Bruce Chladny is horticulture agent at K-State Research and Extension-Douglas County. For more information, call him at 843-7058 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.