Ugh - Skunks

[Ben]

Minding my own business, having my morning cup of coffee and surfing the webz, I hear Steve (who is outside for business time) start to bark. A couple minutes later,  Iget a REALLY strong smell of skunk. I think "oh no!" and run out back. Both the dog and cat came running up to me trying to get in the house. I smelled them both and luckily both are clear. However, the skunk must have sprayed right next to or on the house.

My eyes are near watering as a type this, and that's with all the windows having been closed. I'm wondering if he sprayed near a crawl space vent or something. Anyway, this is unbearable. I can't really do a good inspection till later since it's dark till past 0800 right now. Anyway, this is terrible. It smells worse than the time Steve got sprayed and got in the house.

[Kingcreek]

That smell will seep right through the walls.
Cat food is great skunk bait.

[Ben]

That smell will seep right through the walls.
Cat food is great skunk bait.

I'm worried about more than skunks regarding food outside, so both the cat and dog get fed at set times, and I don't ever leave food out.

[Ben]

Well, me and Steve just got back from harrowing a field in the nice fresh air, which reset my nose. I sniffed around the house when I got back and it wasn't until the back porch that I caught the smell. I bet what happened is that even though there was no food in the bowls there, the skunk smelled "residue", headed on over there, and ran into a cat and dog that don't like intruders. He probably sprayed and ran. I guess I should consider myself lucky that my buddies weren't sprayed.

Also, tangent: Stupid long covid. It took bacon away but skunk is unaffected? Don't tell me covid isn't a bioweapon.

[Jim147]

My little runt white black lab loved playing with skunks. She never got sprayed but she would stink sometimes from playing with them in he yard.

[Creeping Incrementalism]

I like walking my dog in the pre-dawn hours when skunks are often about.  Trouble is, I can't see and avoid them.  Fortunately, usually they run into the small storm drain culverts that run under driveways.  80% of the time when they spray, they miss.  Rarely (only once in 13 years of daily walks), the skunk missed the dog and hit me.  A couple of times when I was out stargazing, my dog actually alerted me to a skunk that was ambling right towards me.  Skunks are incredibly oblivious and I would not be surprised if one wandered straight into me, and would only spray me after I shriek in surprise.

Some skunks are so dumb it becomes a problem.  Once one was blocking my driveway when I was late for the train to work (and missing a train by 15 seconds is bad when they run only once every 15 minutes).  I was honking and honking my horn but it just stood there like it was deaf.  And I seriously did not want to have to deal with a squished skunk in the middle of my driveway.  Another time, I was testing out a night vision monocular, and saw a skunk on a neighbor's yard across a very large draining ditch, digging up its lawn.  I sat there for like 60 seconds just staring at it through night vision, wondering when it would notice me.  Finally it did, and this skunk was aggressive.  It started running towards me, and stood there hissing.  But it made no attempt to spray me.  Thankfully the big drainage ditch kept things civil... had it not been there, I would have hightailed it out of there as fast as I could.  But I just sat there chuckling as it hissed and puffed trying to scare me off.  That was also the biggest skunk I ever saw in my life.

One other issue I've had with skunks, is they find their way into squirrel traps.  I found a technique on YouTube that works well: approach slowly with a beach towel covering your whole body.  Skunks are so dumb that while they will see you, they won't perceive you as a living creature and will just look at you and not react.  Then carefully cover most of the trap with your towel, slowly open the trap door. and back away just as slowly.

[JTHunter]

Try a "super soaker" filled with either vinegar or bleach.  Or, if they are too close to the house, a garden hose with one of those high pressure brass nozzles.

[230RN]

You and Steve and the cat are trespassers.  That was just a warning shot in the air.

[Ben]

You and Steve and the cat are trespassers.  That was just a warning shot in the air.

I don't go for that "indigenous peoples" crap. We have the men, dogs, cats, and guns to conquer the skunks. They'll live under our rule and like it.

[gunsmith]

do you have local sage growing in your neck of the woods? we had a big skunk problem for awhile because the ranch owner insisted on feeding the cats outside - the dogs just couldn't help but want to bite the skunk too-never learned.
 I used to burn the local sage to get the smell out of the house, it worked great.
for the dogs it was like a bucket of water, a bit of dawn, a bit of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda ( maybe vinegar ) - there is a formula online somewhere.

 long distance shots with a .22 eliminate skunk problems, as do owls and coyotes

[Declaration Day]

Glad your critters didn't get sprayed.  FYI, if they ever do, Dr. Bronner's Peppermint soap is the miracle cure. One bath will eliminate 95% of the smell.  A second bath will remove enough of the rest that you'll have to put your nose right up to the dog's fur to smell any trace of it.

[MechAg94]

I heard tomato juice or tomato soup will work on the smell for dogs.  I think some of those chemical formulas can irritate a dogs skin quite a bit.  Something to be careful of.

[HeroHog]

Effective and cheap solution:

If in animal's face, first add a few drops of mineral oil to their eyes to protect them.

Add 1 gallon of water to a large bucket.

Add 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide, 1 cup of baking soda and 1 tbsp. of Dawn dish detergent to the bucket of water.

Allow the mixture to fizz.

Dip a sponge into the solution in the bucket.

Use the wet sponge to lather the affected area of the skin or hair.

Let the solution sit for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

Rinse and repeat steps 4, 5, and 6.