Skunks are mostly known for the foul-smelling spray they emit to protect themselves from danger. They also ruin landscapes, raid gardens, and dig holes under homes and building foundations, making them unstable. Plus, they carry various diseases that are transmitted to humans. Skunk control removes the animal and implements exclusions to prevent them from returning. Contact a professional who uses safe and humane strategies that work quickly and effectively.
What Is Skunk Control?
Skunk control goes beyond removing the animal from your property. Critter Control experts, for example, aim to prevent and exclude skunks from visiting your area in the future. They help you develop a permanent solution to avoid repeat skunk problems.
Prevention and exclusion techniques make your home and property less attractive to skunks. Food, water, or shelter is nearby if a skunk is in your yard. Skunk control removes all the survival resources so that a skunk will not be interested in anything near your home. Hiring a professional to help with skunk pest control means all prevention and exclusion methods will be implemented.
Do You Need Skunk Control Services?
Skunks pose a threat to your health, pets, and property. They are equipped with strong feet and long nails for digging, using them to scratch if they feel trapped. They also use their claws to burrow for food or shelter, damaging homes and building foundations, electrical wiring, and plumbing.
These nocturnal pests are common carriers of rabies and carry diseases such as tularemia, leptospirosis, and canine distemper. These diseases are transmitted through bites and not through a skunk’s spray. A skunk’s sulfuric spray, known for its intense odor, is a defense mechanism only used when a skunk feels cornered or threatened. If you or your pet come in contact with skunk spray, it can cause nausea or vomiting.
Never attempt to handle a skunk without the help of a professional. Avoid getting scratched, bitten, or sprayed by calling a skunk professional for skunk control services. Critter Control experts have years of experience and know how to control skunks while limiting damages and repairs. They have safe and humane equipment and an extensive knowledge of skunk behaviors to get the job done quickly and effectively. We at Critter Control pride ourselves on controlling skunk problems.
What Is Skunk Exclusion, and How Do You Prevent Skunks?
Exclusion means modifying your home and yard to reduce the risk of skunk infestation. Removing food, water, and shelter resources prevents skunks from entering your property. Here are some exclusion tips that work:
- Secure trash cans.
- Remove pet food from outdoor areas.
- Close-off areas under porches, sheds, and decks.
- Remove yard clutter, such as wood and rock piles, where skunks like to hide.
- Close access areas to pipes, drains, basements, and crawlspaces.
- Remove stagnant water areas that attract insects.
- Fix leaky water hoses, pipes, and hydrants.
How Do Professional Skunk Removal Services Like Critter Control Remove Skunks?
Critter Control technicians can quickly locate a skunk den and use trapping techniques to capture and safely relocate the skunk in your yard.
Experts understand that trapping skunks involves choosing a safe, humane trap in the size that matches the skunk on your property. They choose the correct bait that attracts skunks and not all other wildlife. Also, they know how to trap one skunk versus a skunk with babies.
Critter Control will also repair any skunk damage and remove any remaining odor. Experts know which skunk repellents and skunk deterrents to use based on your unique situation.
Although skunk encounters occur regularly, the pests should never be handled without the help of a professional. When threatened, skunks discharge their spray, and the smell is difficult to remove and causes severe irritation to the skin and eyes. Calling in a wildlife specialist is imperative for proper skunk removal, as professional specialists possess the knowledge, tools, and training to resolve skunk problems humanely and effectively.
Information Reviewed and Approved by Sean Carruth, VP of Communications at Critter Control.
Learn more about Skunks and Skunk intrusions by following the links below!
What Attracts Skunks How to Identify a Skunk Diseases & Property Damage Skunk Removal
Source: The Handbook: Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage – Skunks. James E. Knight, 1994.
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About the size of a domestic cat, skunks are recognizable for their black fur with white markings down their backs. Skunks may also appear black with white spots and striping, depending on the species. The animal has a small, triangular-shaped head with short ears and black eyes. Skunks have short, stout legs and five-toed feet used for digging holes.
Skunks are an easy nuisance animal to identify. Their unique characteristics, a white stripe down the back of their black fur and notorious stinky smell, are undeniable. Skunks are nocturnal, so it would not be unusual to smell their unique odor without seeing them. However, if that smell lingers daily, you might have a resident skunk in your yard that requires skunk removal.
You may also identify skunks by their noises, which can be annoying. These noises include hissing, chirping, squealing, and lip-smacking.
The mammal is found in wooded areas, open fields, pastures, and lands bordering forested regions. Primarily active at night, skunks typically use burrows abandoned by other animals to build dens but will also use hollow logs, piles of brush, and culverts to avoid detection.
There are 13 skunk species, including the striped skunk, which is found in southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. The hog-nosed skunk also lives in these places but can be found in Central America and the Caribbean.
Skunks in residential neighborhoods look for hiding spots that are safe from predators, warm, and have enough space to give birth to young—under decks and porches, crawlspaces and basements, tree hollows, logs, rock, or brush piles. Skunks may den under sheds or other structures with openings between the ground and the building. This can include pipe openings, clutter piles in your yard, broken-down cars or equipment, and trenches.
Skunks will enter yards in search of new food sources or suitable dens. It is rare for a skunk to actually enter your house.
They feed on insects, earthworms, small rodents, snakes, frogs, berries, and fruit. Once near human habitation, they may expand their diet to include garbage, unattended pet food, and garden plants.
They will enter your yard if your yard offers access to any of their preferred foods. Skunks avoid human contact. However, leaving pet food unsecured in a garage or on the other side of a pet door may entice them to enter your home. Skunks are known to enter basements for safe, warm denning spots.
They do not often enter homes. Still, they are dangerous, and here’s why. They can host disease-causing parasites such as fleas, mites, ticks, and tapeworms.
While skunks are an essential source of insect control, most human-skunk interactions are negative. Skunks carry various diseases harmful to humans and domesticated animals, such as rabies, a virus that sometimes causes fatal symptoms. They also carry tularemia, a painful disease that affects lymph nodes, eyes, throat, lungs, and intestines. Distemper, another virus transmitted by skunks to pets, infects the lungs, eyes, airways, and nose.
Skunks can shoot their defensive spray up to twenty feet when threatened or cornered. This mode of defense has been known to cause nausea and even intense pain, especially when shot directly in the eyes.
The best way to reduce the chances of incurring a skunk infestation is to modify your home and yard. Secure trash cans, remove pet food from outdoor areas, and carefully monitor the amount of moisture around the home, as skunks eat insects and grubs that thrive in moist settings. Homeowners should also attempt to close off possible denning sites, such as under porches or sheds. Keeping pets indoors at night helps prevent accidental spraying.
Do You Need Skunk Control Services?
The idea of controlling skunks seems an unpleasant one to most people. The thought of getting sprayed alone is enough to call a skunk professional for skunk control services. The truth is that it takes an expert with years of experience who knows how to control skunks to limit the amount of skunk damage these animals can do. Controlling skunk problems is something we at Critter Control pride ourselves on.
Why Is Skunk Control Important?
When a skunk gets into your home, they can cause structural damage to the home, not to mention your insulation and ventilation. You should also consider skunk control services if you fear a nearby skunk may cause odor problems for you or your pets. If you suspect this has happened to you, call Critter Control today for skunk control services. We have been controlling skunks and the damage they cause since 1983 and know how to control skunks in the most effective way possible.
How does Critter Control Get Rid of Skunks?
Critter Control implements the most effective and safest methods of skunk control when working to get rid of skunks around homes. Trapping has proven to be the best skunk control solution. Our professionals also recommend cleaning up areas of the property, like woodpiles and food sources, to help keep the skunks away and to prevent future skunk control problems.
Never handle a skunk without help from a trained expert. Use safety equipment to avoid the harsh consequences of being sprayed by a skunk. Trapping a skunk safely requires special training and gear. In addition, you don’t want to risk breaking local laws and receiving a fine or punishment. Calling in a wildlife specialist is imperative for proper skunk removal, as professional specialists possess the knowledge, tools, and training to resolve skunk problems humanely and effectively.
The best way to eliminate a skunk is to call a professional skunk removal services company, like Critter Control. They have the proper licenses, certifications, education, and training to handle skunk removals. They also have safe and humane equipment and the correct baits for removal.
Professionals use a comprehensive inspection, removal, repair, and exclusion process to eliminate your skunk and prevent future skunk problems.