skunks
Skunks
By: Sandra Todd
Last updated: Jan-2004
Remember: skunks have some beneficial habits — they eat insects and rodents.
What you Can Do
“Make your yard inhospitable to skunks”:
- Remove outdoor pet food and water bowls.
- Store pet food in animal proof containers.
- Gardens should be harvested frequently and windfall fruit picked up.
- Food should never be intentionally left out for wild mammals.
- Seal up house from access, including porches. Slotted metal vent covers are preferable to screen wire in keeping skunks from entering houses through foundation vents.
- Offensive sprays (such as coyote urine).
- Shooting is permissible to remove skunks from unincorporated rural areas.
- Use beneficial nematodes in the spring to kill grubs, which are a favorite food of the skunk and the major cause of lawn damage.
- Call Santa Clara County Vector Control to come out and assess the situation. If Vector Control deems it necessary, they will trap the animal and dispose of it according to their regulations.
What Doesn’t Work
- We do not recommend trapping because of the difficulty of disposing of the live animal. However, live trapping is permissible in both urban and rural settings.
- There are no federally registered pesticides for control of skunks in or around buildings.
Resources
