Tag Archives: skunk in the yard

It’s a Dog-Eat-Dog World

There is a skunk in my yard and he is at war with my dogs. It started about two weeks ago after we had about 3 days of hard rain.  The skunk was denning underneath our shed out back, and I think that the rain may have flooded it out which is why we’re just now seeing activity from it.  The problem is that now that it’s out it is wandering around our property and we have two small dogs.  Needless to say the two types of animals do NOT get along.

Even though I know the skunk is out and about, the sightings are scattered.  We will smell him long before we see him, especially with the dogs.  It has been a nightmare dealing with it, if we let them out and forget to watch them they’ll be long gone, chasing after the skunk before we realize it and can stop them.  In two weeks, they have each been sprayed twice; the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda are practically all gone from using them so much and I can still smell the skunk lingering in their fur.         I’m not even sure if the skunk is in the yard or if it’s hiding out under the shed still.  I know that when I let the dogs out the immediately head for the foundation of the shed, but they just sniff and don’t usually bark or scratch.  When they see the skunk, though, they go absolutely bananas!

We need help getting rid of this thing.  The skunk is turning our backyard into a war zone, world war three is happening: dogs vs. skunk!  I’ve looked up skunk traps and skunk repellents, but it seems unlikely to me that they would help get the skunk out of my yard for good.  I’d rather have him trapped and relocated so that I know he’s gone.  I need a professional skunk trapper and I don’t even know if that’s a real job!

Skunk in the House

It took forever for us to figure out we had a skunk in the house.  It shouldn’t have taken us that long, but you have to understand we live in a duplex, and we’ve had problems with our neighbors for years.  Now, we’re not the ritziest people.  We work hard, though.  I work two jobs and my boyfriend does construction work, so he can either be working a 16 hour day for three days in a row, or have no work for a week.  On the days he’s not working, he’ll pick up odd jobs and fix up houses and stuff.  We made some bad choices a couple of years back, so we have some real serious debts to pay off, and we want to put money down on a new house.  That’s why we work so much, so we can pay off the debt, buy a house, get married and start a family, maybe.

 

But the people that live next door are a nightmare.  They throw all-night parties, people coming and going until 3 or 4 in the morning.  Makes it kind of hard when I get home at ten at night and have to be up again at six.  They throw their trash out on the front lawn.  Never even makes it to the garbage can.  It’s just junk and stuff rotting or rusting.  Makes it embarrassing when we have our friends over, because they have to walk next to that.  I think they have to have mice or something nesting in that garbage, though, which is probably how we ended up with a skunk in the house.

 

Sure, we’ve complained.  The guy who owns the duplex doesn’t really care, though.  He’s got tenants that pay regular rent, so that’s that.  Yeah, he’s talked to them a couple of times, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s going anywhere.  We can’t move out fast enough, if you ask me.

 

We weren’t all that surprised when we started smelling a new awful smell.  Took us a while to figure out what it was, though.  We just assumed it was more garbage, or something had died or something.  Then, one morning, I was headed out to work around six, when I saw the black and white cat-sized animal come out of a hole in the wall, right behind the gas meter.  That’s when I realized we have a skunk in the house.  The meters are kind of in between the two duplexes, so it’s hard to tell whether it’s on our side or not.  I don’t care.  We can all smell it, and it can probably get into either side.

 

I called my husband from work, since he didn’t have a job that day, and told him all about it.  He called the landlord, who promised to get Allstate Animal Control out there to get rid of the skunk in the house.  I hope so.  If only we could ask them to get rid of the neighbors at the same time.

 

 

Skunk Problems

Skunk
Skunk getting ready to spray.
(Artwork by Sharon Davis. Contact us for her contact info.)

She backed into the far corner, shuddering and quivering with fear, eyes wide but never blinking, she and her fellow hens terrified by this problem skunk.  The black and white furry creature started digging around her hen house several nights ago.  When the digging had stopped last night, she thought the nightmare was over.  She knew it was still in the area.  It was impossible to think otherwise after the spraying incident.  The dog had gotten too protective of his territory, barking and going crazy, and she guessed he’d gotten too close.  The smell had been overpowering, and the dog had whimpered all the rest of the night.  But, she and the other hens had kept quiet through it all.  They were just happy the digging had stopped for a while.

During the day, they had inspected the ground around their roost and knew the skunk was getting closer and closer to finding a way inside.  The claw marks were obvious, and its scat lay all around the yard.  They avoided approaching the house, because they knew the space under the wooden steps was a perfect place for a skunk den.  Each day, there was more garbage strewn around, and the man who took care of them seemed distressed over his vegetable garden.  At first, some of the hens had pecked around in the garden, feasting on the grubs and worms that were now closer to the surface, but they were soon chased off and now gathered closer to the hen house, eating the seed that was scattered for them.

And then tonight, the scratching and scraping had started up again, and she had correctly feared tonight would be the night the farmer’s skunk problemwould become their skunk problem.  Their protector, the dog, was locked up inside the house.  It seemed the farmer worried that he would be sprayed again, or worse, bitten.  The farmer didn’t want a chance of rabies or anything else infecting his dog.  So, the hens were locked up tight and then left to fend for themselves.

Sure enough, a loose plank was made looser until a black snout poked through.  The snout retreated and a paw came in, patting about and clawing further.  The hens were shrieking and clucking, but many wouldn’t leave their nests.  She huddled into the far corner with the others, hoping for a miracle, but expecting the worst.  Soon, the skunk worked its whole body into the hen house, and surveyed the space.  She hoped they had just made enough noise to wake the farmer in time.

The skunk walked over to the nests, and several of the more protective hens shrieked and flew off their nests in a flurry of feathers.  It snuffled and chuffed and then, just as it started toward an egg, the door burst open.  Hens, grateful for this unexpected exit, pushed and clucked their way out while the startled skunk ran back and forth, unsure which direction would carry it to safety.  Feeling trapped, it turned and lifted its tail.  All the chickens had fled and the farmer slammed the door shut just in time to barely contain the spray.  It was going to be a long night, but at least the hens were safe.  All she knew was the skunk as alone now in the henhouse, alone with all the eggs.