skunk problems

[ADAMINMO]

Does anyone have any good remedys that work to keep skunks out from under your house?I have already trapped 2 of them and dont need anymore .Any help or comments would be great.Also any ideas on removing the smell from the home would be great.
Thanks

[Tom_in_Mo.]

Come on guys help this guy out for I need some relief too 
Adam tried the ole wise saying of putting something over the skunk and then you can pick it up without getting sprayed

[wesdor]

This is a tough situation.  A friend of mine had skunk problems in her home in Washington and I don't think she ever solved it totally. 

I did a google on skunk odor and found the following:

<<
A chemist by the name of Paul Krebaum discovered a solution that chemically neutralizes skunk odor. The ingredients for the formulation are:


1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (fresh bottle)
1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1-2 teaspoons liquid dish soap.
Ingredients must be mixed in an open container and used immediately. Never mix the ingredients in advance because oxygen released from hydrogen peroxide may cause a closed container to explode. The solution can be used on people or pets; avoid splashing the product in the eyes or mouth. Allow the solution to remain on hair for five minutes before rinsing with water. Repeat as needed. Do not use this solution on clothing — it may discolor the fabric.

For clothing that cannot be washed or dry-cleaned, such as shoes, suspend them outdoors, allowing fresh air to carry away the volatile thiols. The odor will decrease over time provided the material is not re-exposed to skunk musk. Any cleaning fluid or household chlorine bleach also can be used to remove skunk odor from fabrics. Use these products in separate steps — not together. Test cleansers first on an inconspicuous portion of the fabric before applying to the entire fabric.

When deodorizing a house, don't forget to change the air filter to the furnace/air conditioner. Sometimes it can become contaminated with skunk odor and continue to disperse the smell throughout the house after the initial source of the odor has been treated.
>>

It can be found at
eliminate skunk odor

[ADAMINMO]

Thanks. That helps for some of it.Any other helpful hints and comments would be greatly appreciated.

[Nudgewood]

.22

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[Burlkraft]

Back when we were on the farm we used to have a problem with skunks under the corn crib. The Old man's answer.....Mashed potatoes and cyanide....They seemed to love the mashed taters, where the cyanide came from...  

[Murf]

You have two problems Adam, three if you count the smell.......
 
The biggest problem you have is not the skunks themselves, it's that you have a place skunks like...

Skunks are like in-laws, give them a comfy place and their likely to stay forever. 

Make it less hospitible and they'll be on down the road right smartly.

The simple problem is the smell, anything that will absorb the odor will help, a big bag of flour spread out on a tray and shoved under the house for a few days will absorb a lot of it.

Look around and see if you can find a contractor in the area who does fire restoration work for folks who've had a fire, they have special chemicals that will eliminate the smell, if it'll cover up a fire, it'll cover up most anything.

[treebucker]

I like science but chemistry is one of my weak points. I donno about mixing hydrogen peroxide with baking soda.  That sounds ~ explosive. When it comes to using it on hair I thought peroxide was one thing people use to bleach hair?

The old standby for the odor is large industrial cans of tomato catsup. Simply take a bath in it. It won't get all the smell out but it will get most of it. I seem to remember a Mythbusters some time back that compared commercial and home remedies for the smell and tomato catsup won. I guess them old timers knew what they were talking about when I was a kid.

What a coincidence you bought this up. I've been trying lately, without any luck, to locate what I thought was a dead skunk next to the road. Near as I can figure it simply had the smell frightened out of it by a passing car.

Yesterday morning I was next to the barn when I saw a fat skunk heading up the hill for the barn. The dog hadn't seen it yet, (I'm a little taller than he is. ) I've had to give this dog a catsup bath once already and didn't want to do it again. So I cowered out of there taking the dog with me. The skunk is the only amimal I know that is totally fearless.

I'm not looking forward to this fat skunk taking up residence in the barn. I figure it's a pregnant female looking for a prospective den. 4-5 years back I was suprised by a familiy of them in that barn.  When it's dark and hard to see, it's a bad feeling to just make out one of those little ones threating to spray you.

Poison? Someone told me once that you can mix a little puradan(?) with dog food. They called it '2-step' because they said when an animal gets a mouthfull that's about how far they make it before death. This troubles me because skunks may not be all that get into it.  It may be illegal?

I'm wondering about moth balls?

[Burlkraft]

That would be Furadan...and I know fer sure it kills horses....

[thurlow]

Right on about the Furadan;  it'll kill anything, including YOU.  It's a restricted-use pesticide.  Some of the IRRESPONSIBLE local farmers went through a phase about 12 or 15 years ago using it to kill feral dogs and cats; it also killed raccoons, possums and everything else that ate it.  You could tell because they were lying right there where they ate it.  One of them.......farmers.......bought some high priced (dead) coon hounds because of it.  Another one was having problems with blackbirds/grackles/cowbirds, etc around his grain tanks.  He soaked some corn and scattered it around.........by hand.  He almost died before the am-bu-lance got there.

[Kevin]

Live trap them in a cage type trap, cover the cage and carry them down to the pond.
If they start doing the texas two step with their front paws back off.
They won't spray if the trap is covered.
Close off where they are getting under the house., add a few moth balls to the area.

[stumpy]

If you can be sure that no pets get in there, put a couple pans of antifreeze down.  It's sweet and when they lap it up, it kills them pretty quick.  Watch out for pets though, if they get in it, there's no way of saving them.

[stonebroke]

We had a shunk in the basement a few years ago. I had to shoot it to get it out. It took several weeks to get rid of the smell. The best thing we found that will not drive you out of the house is the can sized auto deodorizers in vanilla. These are found at your local napa store . They look like a little pop top can of cat food. You just pop the top and put them where the odor is worse. Also buy the big cans of spray febeze and go to town with it.

Stonebroke

[Burlkraft]

We had a shunk in the basement a few years ago. I had to shoot it to get it out. It took several weeks to get rid of the smell.

What did the wife think of that.....             

[beenthere]

I'd a figured a way to get that skunk inna live trap, befur I'd shot it down there. 
But then, I wasn't there to be faced with that decision, either.

I didn't recall the smell would hang around for 'weeks', as I've only known it to be around for a few days. It doens't sound too pleasant, either way. 

[stonebroke]

I chased that thing around the basement for three hours but he kept running in behind the boiler and pipes. The thing I should of done in hindsight was have a plastic bag ready to put him in as soon as I shot him. The main problem was he dripped all the way up the strairs and out the back hall.

Also lots of bleach and water seemed to help. After a while you will get used to the smell and other people have to point it out to you.

Stonebroke

[thecfarm]

I have used that hydrogen mix on my dog 3-4 times and once on myself. I was standing next to my dog looking for a skunk in some corn stalks that we had for sale.The dog found the skunk before I did.Not good.My wife mixes it up in a coffee cup,one for Dew and one for me.    If I live trap them take them for a swim.They will not spray will the trap covered.Lower the trap into the water with a rope.I think I had one eating my ckickens.I caught one and had no more trouble.

[Kevin]

I caught one in the dead of winter trapping mink one year.
I made a few passes with my nose and couldn't smell it, bonus says I, eh?
I brings it home and hangs it from the joists to thaw out so I could slip his skin off.
In the living room watching tv with the wife about an hour later when she turns and says ...WHAT'S THAT SMELL ! yikes!

[highpockets]

An old man here used to kill stray dogs with eggs and arsenic.  We had the cotton gin and dogs seemed to find comfort sleeping there. Mr Herd would go get a dozen eggs. He'd take his knife blade and just peck a small hole in the side of the egg. Then he'd stick his blade in the arsenic and drip a few drops inside the egg.  In a few days there were not dogs.  I'll bet it would work on skunks.

 

[Norm]

I live trap them in a havahart with a lonnnnnng rope tied to it. Shot them between the eyes with a .22, sometimes they release the stink sometimes they don't.

I think skunks have a beautiful pelt but have never caught one in a leg hold trap that they didn't release their scent. That set stays there until something gets rid of it for me or next trapping season when I'm short of traps.