How To Keep Your Property Skunk-Free?

There are plenty of rodents, birds and other animals that you don’t want living on your property, but a skunk may top the list. These cute-looking animals pack a major odour and can even spread diseases that can harm you and your household. Explore common skunk removal strategies to see why your best option is to turn to a professional wildlife expert in Newmarket.

Strong Odours

Many homeowners are attempting to fight fire with fire, or in this case odour with odour. While skunks have an impressively foul-smelling scent of their own, there are a number of odours that they don’t care for. Here are some common ones used to keep skunks clear of your property:

• Cayenne pepper
• Bleach
• Jalapeno
• Onion

Unfortunately, you also have to live with this odour in your home or around your yard. The aroma of yellow onion outside your door isn’t exactly the refreshing scent you want. Don’t be surprised if this technique also prevents some of your guests from wanting to enter your home. You also have to find the exact spot a skunk is trying to enter your home or dig a burrow in your yard.

Bright Lights

Floodlights can also frighten away skunks and other wildlife. A motion-sensor light around your home or property may alert you to a nighttime intruder who needs to be scared away. This technique, however, also requires you to know the exact area a skunk is lurking. Bright lights are uncomfortable for skunks, but they’re also uncomfortable for you and your neighbours. Your neighbours may naturally be displeased if you’re flooding your yard with bright lights as a form of wildlife control in Newmarket. This strategy may only work for prevention, not removal. A skunk who’s been caught by a bright light in your yard will typically run back to its burrow, which may mean running back to a spot on your property or in your basement. This can actually encourage the animal to spend more time around your home instead of moving on.

Loosely Fill Burrows

Compared with other wildlife, skunks aren’t very persistent in keeping the same burrow. Placing newspaper or leaves at the entrance to a burrow can sometimes make a skunk choose another home, preferably farther away from your property. There are a number of issues with this plan. First, you need to find a skunk burrow, which is usually strategically hidden. Second, you need to get very close to the burrow, which may cause a skunk to spray you or otherwise try to defend itself. Finally, this method can be inhumane. If you pack the entrance too tightly, you may trap a skunk or baby skunks in the burrow. You don’t have to resort to a potentially dangerous and inhumane solution just to prevent a skunk from living near your home.

Temporary vs. Long-Term Solutions

Filling your property with bright lights, unpleasant aromas or filled-up burrows are all temporary solutions. These may keep skunks away from certain areas of your property or discourage them from immediately moving in, but they won’t give you the long-term relief you need to enjoy a skunk-free yard. A professional wildlife expert offers long-term, humane solutions. These solutions cover both prevention and removal, so you don’t need to worry about how to safely evict a skunk already on your property.

Call Skedaddle for Wildlife Control in Newmarket

Take the first step in safe, long-term skunk control by contacting us. Give us a call at Skedaddle Humane Wildlife Control for convenient solutions to your wildlife issues. Discuss the reasons you believe there may be a skunk around your home and see how we can help your unwanted friend find a new home.