Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Skunked.

Not the fishing type of skunk, either.



Like every morning before I let my dogs out in the yard at 3:30 AM, I turn the light on and make sure there are no critters in the yard. The coast was clear, and I let the dogs out. Daisy usually runs to her spot and does her business and she's back right away. Bo usually wanders around a bit. Well, Bo wandered around, but Daisy, did not do her usual, instead, she kept sniffing all of the bushes very closely. This sort of alarmed me. While I was paying close attention to my dogs through the window on the storm door, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, I looked down, and I'll be damned....it was a baby skunk standing on the step on the opposite side of the door. The skunk was watching Daisy sniff all of the bushes.

Even knowing that the baby skunks don't have the glads to spray, I knew that momma or pops, couldn't be far. I began to panic. I opened the door and tried "shooing" the baby skunk away with my foot, but that only drew the attention of my dogs, who now noticed that there was another animal in the yard. Thankfully, the little skunk jumped off the step, and under my porch.

....then I got a nose full of that god awful skunk smell...

I called the dogs in and smelled them the best I could. Daisy was perfectly fine. Bo on the other hand, caught a little bit of the spray. My guess is that Momma or Poppa skunk sprayed from under the porch hitting mostly the porch, and a little bit of Bo.

Bo received a quick tomato bath. I only had a can of diced tomatoes, but I think it did the trick...my girlfriend thinks otherwise.

They are living in a hole they dug out underneath my cement step, under the porch.
I've been researching ways to get the skunks removed without having to contact someone to trap them. (and pay them.). I taped a flashlight to my GoPro camera, and used the app on my phone to view the underside of my deck. I found where the skunks have made a home/hole. I soaked some rags with ammonia and used a pole to stuff the hole best I could.

My GoPro light set up.
Screen shot from my GoPro camera - Before I placed the ammonia soaked rags inside.
Screen shot #2 - I did the best I could with the rags. It was an awkward angle.
Hopefully, that will force them to relocate to someone elses backyard or the field nearby.

6 comments:

  1. Justin
    I don't envy you, skunk spray has got to be the worst of the worst when it comes to scents.

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    1. Bill, that skunk smell is still in my kitchen. Nothing I can do but deal with it until it slowly fades away. It is definitely the worst of worst.

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  2. Thank god that I have never been directly sprayed by one or had any pets of mine sprayed. Good lord those things stink.

    All last summer/fall and the early part of this spring, I had one that was either roam in my yard at night or int he neighbors yard. As soon as the sun was down, I could smell it. It didn't matter if the windows were open or not, the whole house smelled.

    For some reason, it stopped mid spring and i haven't smelled one since. I did see a dead one on the side of the road that is across the pond. Im hoping that was the one stinking up my yard.

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    1. One of my old dogs killed one in the backyard, and was sprayed right in the face. She smelled for a few weeks. In the heat of summer, too, so, when she would play and sweat, the stank would ooze out of her pours. It was god awful, and I wish that smell upon no one.

      My Google search on how to take care of the problem myself brought up some tips on how to keep skunks out of your yard, and away from your campsite. Some interesting stuff. A lot of it involved vinegar. The scent of dog urine is supposed to keep them away, but I guess the ones under my deck just don't give a damn.

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    2. That homeopathic natural crap is just that - crap. lol. I had an ant problem and this one anti-chemical website swore up and down that putting wet coffee grounds in and around the mound would send the ants packing. It didn't so I broke out the chemicals and haven't seen an ant since

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    3. Same here Nick. I'd put out a trap with a can of cat food in it and a ciontractor garbage bag around it. Trap the little bugger.

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