Skunks Active In Towns Across U.S.: How Do You Get Rid Of The Stink?

ACROSS AMERICA — Without our knowing about it, some of our neighbors are doing what’s known as the “fall shuffle.” It’s really none of our concern — unless we or our pets run afoul of them.

“Afoul” is no figure of speech. The neighbors are skunks, which like the creature comforts of urban and suburban environments, including a bountiful supply of insects, mice, fruits chicken eggs and pet food left outside. Adaptable skunks thrive as well in urban environments as rural ones, and are widely distributed across North America.

Skunks roam around our properties and back yards right under our noses most of the year. But because they are active at night, we don’t see them. During the fall shuffle, skunks have so much to get done before winter that they’re more frequently seen during the day. Young skunks are mature enough to leave their mothers’ dens and find their own. Everyone in the skunk world is busy fattening up.

This makes it more likely skunks will have unpleasant encounters with humans, pets and other predators — including the automobile, based on the amount of roadkill seen during fall months.

Getting The Stink Out

So, how do you get rid of the skunk smell? We’d love to hear from Patch readers in the comments section about what treatments work for you.

Among the many purported remedies, one of the most common is a bath of tomato juice, but that’s folklore. Basically, you and your pet will smell like a tomato that was sprayed by a skunk.

More For Your Fall To-Do List

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Instead, try this folk remedy passed down through the generations of dog owners and made of items you’ve probably got around the house. This formula should be enough to treat a medium-size dog of 30 to 50 pounds, so adjust it as necessary.

In an open container, mix together:

• ¼ cup baking soda
• Fresh 1-quart bottle of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide
• 1-2 teaspoons of liquid dish detergent

This solution must be used right away and cannot be stored. For pets and people, thoroughly work the mixture into the fur, hair or skin, avoiding the eyes and mouth, and leave it on for five minutes. Then rinse with fresh water and repeat if necessary.

That won’t remove the skunk smell from clothing, and you shouldn’t put it on any clothing you don’t want to bleach, according to the Iowa State University Extension Service. Regular laundering and exposure to air will eventually cause the smell to fade, but you’ll probably have tossed the clothing in the garbage can before that.

Hazel Christiansen, a professional dog groomer and former president of the Idaho-based American Grooming Shop Association, offers a few more skunk odor removal tips in a Yankee Magazine post.

Douse the dog with this potion and allow to soak in for 10 minutes before shampooing:

• 1 cup vanilla extract
• 1 gallon water

The total amount you’ll need for this next remedy depends on the size of your dog. Thoroughly wet the dog’s coat, work this solution through the fur, allow to soak in for five minutes and then shampoo and rinse thoroughly, taking care to keep the solution out of the dog’s eyes (it will sting):

• 2 parts water
• 1 part apple cider vinegar

Be Less Hospitable

Once they’ve set up housekeeping in a neighborhood or village, getting rid of skunks is a nearly impossible task that can have harmful environmental effects.

The best thing may be to make your property less attractive to skunks and less-smelly woodchucks, raccoons, rabbits, chipmunks and opossum looking for a place to hunker down for the winter. Some of their preferred den sites are wood piles, holes under door stoops, gaps below decks and sheds that don’t get a lot of use.

Consider adding a fence below the deck using half-inch mesh hardware cloth attached firmly to the deck frame and buried about 6 inches to a foot below ground. Do this at night, when skunks are out hunting.

Don’t store pet or other animal feed where skunks can get out them. Make sure the garbage can lid is secure. Clean up around bird feeders. Skunks can make a meal of what’s left behind.

And, here’s some irony: A skunk puts off an odor like none other in the animal kingdom, but skunks don’t like pungent odors like citrus, ammonia, mothballs and the urine of predators, such as from dogs and coyotes. Be careful using any of these as a deterrent, though. Put some mothballs in old socks and leave them in the places skunks are active. If you use mothballs or ammonia-soaked cotton balls, keep them away from children and pets.

Skunks don’t like light. A motion-detected floodlight may be enough to ward them away. Carry a flashlight and set of keys when you walk at night. Flashing skunks with light and loudly gingling keys before you’re too close will scare them away.

Skunks Don’t Want To Spray

If you do come face-to-face with a skunk, back away slowly.

Skunks don’t actually want to spray you. They don’t have a lot of defenses in their arsenal. Their reservoir of stink is limited, and depending on how much they emit, it could take a week or 10 days for them to recover, leaving them defenseless against predators.

Skunks also offer plenty of warning before they aim the business end of their musk glands and let out a smell. Watch the behavior: Skunks hiss, arch their backs, display their tails and stomp their front feet before they bend into a U-shape and let it rip.

Eastern spotted skunks do handstands before they spray. The more diminutive species isn’t as common as the striped skunk and is sometimes known as a “civet cat.”