Encounters between skunks and humans are relatively rare because skunks are active mostly at night. Additionally, skunks are afraid of humans and prefer to run away or hide from them when possible. Nevertheless, if skunks are living on your property, it increases the likelihood of an encounter. Skunks living on human properties are usually mothers and may take their babies out during the day to teach them how to look for food. Here are some tips for handling encounters on your property before calling skunk removal in Coquitlam.

1. Keep Your Distance

Skunk spray is strong-smelling and highly irritating. Skunks can spray up to 20 feet and are accurate up to 15. Nevertheless, they prefer not to spray if they can help it. Once a skunk has used up its supply, its body takes about 10 days to replace the fluid, during which time the skunk is vulnerable. If you keep your distance, the skunk will probably move along on its own without spraying.

2. Stay Calm

Maybe you’ve unwittingly come upon a skunk at close quarters. You want to back off so that the skunk isn’t frightened into spraying, but you don’t want to turn tail and run away. Instead, stay calm and back away slowly. Check behind you every once in a while to make sure you’re not going to trip over anything, but keep your eyes on the skunk as much as possible. This gives you an opportunity to see where the skunk goes, whether it runs away from your property or bolts into a hole near your house.

Because skunks don’t like to use their spray unless necessary, they usually give warning signals of their intentions, such as hissing, stamping their feet, or lifting their tails. This gives you time to get away, and once a skunk no longer sees you as a threat, it should stop what it is doing and run away.

3. Find Out What Is Attracting Skunks to Your Property

Wild animals, including skunks, usually come onto human properties in search of two things: food and shelter. What do skunks eat in the summer? Skunks are omnivores, and food is plentiful in the summer. They love to eat insect larvae, which they find by digging holes in your yard. Skunks also love to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, berries, and garbage. If you have a food source on your property, try to get rid of it, or at least make it less accessible to skunks.

Female skunks need safe, warm dens in which to raise their babies. Skunks are burrowing animals that like to dig dens under sturdy objects for protection and stability. Therefore, you may find them digging holes under a deck, porch, or shed.

4. Try Using Skunk Deterrents

The best way to deter skunks from your property is to prevent them from getting the things they want. For example, if they are eating out of your trash, you could keep it inside until pick-up. If they are foraging in your vegetable garden, you could fence it off, digging a trench around the garden’s perimeter to install the fence a few inches below ground level to prevent skunks from digging under it. Our technicians are trained to perform this service for you.

Some people also use strong-smelling substances, such as cayenne pepper, citrus peels, or ammonia to deter skunks. However, these are unlikely to work over long periods as skunks get used to the smell.

5. Call Skedaddle for Skunk Removal in Coquitlam

It is unwise to try getting rid of skunks yourself. Any attempt to handle them could frighten the skunks into spraying or biting. Skunks are common carriers of rabies, a viral infection that is potentially fatal, though preventable. Our technicians are trained to remove skunks safely and humanely. We also clean up feces and skunk smell after the animals are gone.