Getting rid of a skunk that has already made its home in your garden is no easy fit, especially because when you startle an unsuspecting skunk, it sprays its foul-smelling odor on you. This is annoying as you cannot easily get the skunk smell off you, and you may have to deal with smelling bad for a while.
What Harm Do Skunks Cause in the Garden?
Skunks are ground dwellers that live close to water and food sources. The garden is a perfect living space for them as it mirrors their habitat in the wild. However, the presence of skunks in your garden is very detrimental to it. Some harm that skunks cause includes:
Digging up plants from the garden
Making burrows in flower beds
Eating crops and fruits in the garden
What to Do
How do you keep skunks out of the garden? You can keep skunks out of your garden by:
1. Flooding Garden with Light: Skunks are nocturnal animals and have poor eyesight. Therefore, when you flood the garden with light mimicking daylight, skunks become restless and uncomfortable. In most cases, this causes them to leave your garden or avoid it. Therefore, light is one of the greatest skunk repellents available for human use and is cheap to use.
2. Use of Predator Urine: While it is true that skunks do not have natural predators, they are still small wildlife and are in constant fear of larger carnivores like foxes, wolves, and dogs. You can use this to your advantage by purchasing laboratory preparations of wildlife urine and spraying it around your garden. The downside to this, though, is that you have to repeat after it rains or snows.
3. Fencing: Skunks will naturally climb through short spaces but avoid the stress of climbing or digging through walls. You can therefore keep them out by fencing your whole yard or your garden. The wall should be high and deep to discourage climbing or digging.
4. Remove Attractants: Some produce in the garden, such as maize and apples, are favorite skunk snacks. You should study skunk habits and favorite meals and avoid planting them in your garden. For fruits, overripe fruits often attract skunks' attention. Therefore, you should harvest fruits immediately when they get ripe and clear fruits that fall to the ground as soon as you can.
5. Avoid Debris Piling: Skunks would love to live in your garden and the piling of dirt and debris gives them a perfect homing space. They are animals that love comfort and will love to line their burrows with soft materials, especially grasses and leaves. It is, therefore, necessary to always keep your garden clean. Clear leaves and grass litter as often as you can and avoid piling grass debris and harvest waste.
6. Use of Natural Repellents: Skunks have a very keen sense of smell, and like many garden pests, they hate the smell of citrus fruits. You can use this to your advantage by spreading peels of lemon and orange in your garden. This will serve as a natural repellent and keep skunks away from your yard and garden.
7. Skunk Trapping: When all methods of keeping skunks away from your garden fail, you can use humane methods to trap and relocate skunks. However, to do this, you need professional assistance and knowledge of the skunk removal and relocation laws in your state. You must be sure that it is within the law to relocate skunks in your state or call the state's animal control center to handle the skunk infestation problem in your garden.
Go back to the Fall River wildlife removal home page.