What is the best way to rid a yard of skunks?

Question

What is the best way to rid a yard of skunks?

Answer 1

This is hard.  Of course the last thing you want to do is chase them.  There are skunks in my area, but except for one passing through now and then we aren't much bothered.  We feed our outdoor critters in time for all feed to be gone by dark.   We allow the moles to eat the grubs and slugs.   No garbage is ever left outside unsecured.   I will leave you this link to read over.

http://www.howtogetridofstuff.com/pest-c...

I hope it will help you identify wht may be attracting them.   Hopefully you haven't just recently moved in and built your home in a place that they considered home first.   If you have been where you are for a few years and this is a new problem, eliminating access to food is the first step.

Answer 2

Get a large barking dog and let him scare them away.

Don't worry about the stink, the skunks won't come near the dog and will only spray him if he is able to get to the skunk.

A month or so of the dog barking at them will be enough to discourage them and if there is nothing for the skunks to eat, they will find a new place to hang out.

Answer 3

Skunks hate water and, believe it or not, strong odors. If they come by at night, maybe you could hook up a timed sprinkler to come on each night to chase them away. For a bad odor, try mothballs or those benzene urinal pucks.

Skunks are attracted by food, particularly pet food. If you don't have any bowls of cat food or whatever laying around, it could be that they're just using your yard for transit from their home to the food in your neighbor's yard.

I lived in a house near a canyon where the neighbor woman always left bowls of dry cat food out for the feral cats in the neighborhood. But, there weren't any cats - the skunks were eating the food. And, to get to the food, they would go through a gap under my fence, through my yard, and over to the neighbor's house. I eventually stopped them from coming through the yard by putting wire mesh along the bottom of the fence. But, the crazy lady next door refused to believe it was skunks eating the food instead of cats.

Answer 4

When your lawn is full of skunks, it is usually an indication that it has grubs.

To verify, go to areas of your lawn that are dead (ususally brown patchy spots) and pull on the grass.  If the turf lifts up like carpeting, you've got grubs.  They are ususally white looking worms that eat the roots of the grass.  Skunks feed on the grubs and are probably why they are in your yard.

Kill the grubs, the skunks will leave.  Use products by Bayer or Scotts.