Editor’s Note: I recently had a terrible time with skunk spray that my dog brought into the house. I don’t know anyone who knows more about how to clean and get rid of the odor like Erik. This is an article that should be clipped and kept.
It’s easy to spot the signs of fall in Big Sandy. The leaves are turning, daylight savings time has the sun setting in the middle of the afternoon, and Main Street is lit at night with strings of Christmas lights. Another sign that the season is changing in our little community is unmistakable smell of skunks. In the fall and spring, the black and white pests become more active. Though their presence seems to be less severe so far this season, their scent still lingers strong in the early morning hours. No one wants to deal with these nuisance critters, especially when they spray your dogs and stink up your house.
The striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) is the most common species in Montana. They are typically nocturnal, but can be spotted occasionally in the fall when they become more active. Their increased activity is a result of their foraging for food in effort to build a layer of fat to warn and sustain them in the winter months, when they stay in their dens. Another cause of their increased activity is the search for new dens where they will wait out the cold. The instinctive drive for food and lodging is so strong they are often driven into the daylight hours this time of year.
With our annual unwanted guests coming to town for the holidays, several questions are bound to come to the forefront for residents who want nothing to do with these pests. In my own experience of dealing with skunks, I know the questions I asked most were: “How do I get them to go/stay away?” and “How do I get rid of that smell?”
How do I get skunks to stay away?
The best way to deal with skunks around your home is to get them away from your home. There are a few common tricks for dealing with them. Over my years in town, I have tried to make it a habit to spread skunk repellant granules around my property. There are several brands available in hardware stores or on Amazon. I have typically gotten mine at North 40 Outfitters. 2 bottles is usually enough to lay down a barrier around the house. Ironically, skunk repellants use the strong smells of pepper, capsaicin, and other natural materials, which irritate animals nasal passages. The product will also affect small animals, like raccoons, groundhogs, dogs, cats, etc. The irritant properties are the reason I (as a dog owner) spread these products on the perimeter of the my home, rather than covering the yard entirely.
Beyond repellant, there are other simple solutions for keeping skunks away from your home. As stated before, these animals are out searching for food and shelter. Making sure that your property is free of both is part of keeping the pests away. Skunks often eat cat food left out overnight for pets or strays. During the fall and spring, it is important to take the cat food in overnight and keep an eye on stray food that may spill and leave a tasty treat for a foraging animal. I have spoken with more than a few locals who were unpleasantly surprised to discover a skunk on their porch eating the cat’s dinner.
In terms of shelter, skunks will live under sheds, in culverts, under broken down vehicles, or anywhere else they can set up a secure den. Making sure to limit their access to those spaces is an important measure to ensure you don’t discover an unwanted tenant living in your yard, or worse, under your house.
If you have an active skunk around your home, you can catch them with a live trap. These are available at hardware stores and typically catch nuisance creatures humanely. At the suggestion of local sheriff’s deputy, Jeremy Echols, I bait may live traps with marshmallows. The advantage of marshmallows as bait is that they will attract skunks, but not cats. A baited live trap in our town is more as likely to catch a cat than anything else, so the bait is important. After catching a skunk, cover the cage with an old blanket and transport it to wherever you plan on disposing of the animal. Drowning them is a popular choice, as the water prevents the smell from their spray from spreading. I chose to shoot the skunk that I caught a few years ago, as it wouldn’t leave the cage I caught it in. In addition, releasing a live skunk miles from town near someone else’s farm is likely to make you unpopular. Be aware, I have heard that you can shoot a skunk properly and have them not spray. I’ve never met anyone who has managed to do it.
My dog/cat/house got sprayed! How do I get rid of that smell?
If your pet has been sprayed, it’s a good idea to keep them outside of your home. Wash them in the yard. You need to wash your pet thoroughly, probably multiple times. The Humane Society offers the following recipe for cleaning your pet if they’ve been sprayed: 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and a teaspoon of liquid dishwashing soap. Wash the animal with the solution and rinse them. Then wash your pet with regular pet shampoo. Check out their website for more information. There are commercially available pet washes, though these products tend to be less available in the late hours when spraying typically takes place. The skunk’s spray is an oil and cannot be just rinsed off. There are commercially available skunk scent shampoos as well.
In the event your dog makes its way indoors or your house is thoroughly exposed to the smell, be prepared for a great deal of cleaning. Years ago, when my dog was sprayed, the resulting smell in my home affected everything. We were forced to wash all of the clothing in the closets and drawers. I have spoken with friends who had to shampoo rugs where their dog had laid down after getting sprayed. For cleaning the walls, furniture, and other parts of the house, we used a product given to us by a friend: Neutron Industries’ “SE-500.” The product bills itself as an industrial strength oder eliminator and can be bought online. We purchased a case of it, and keep it on hand. There are also a wide range of skunk smell targeting products. One of the earliest “success stories” touted by the makers of Febreeze deals with a national park employee whose home and uniform were salvaged from skunk smell using the product, which contains a chemical that bonds with scent molecules and neutralizes them. The most unusual method I used for de-skunking several rooms in my home was the “ozone machine.” This little gizmo was gifted to me by an engineer friend. I plugged it in, left for several hours (because breathing too much ozone is toxic), and aired out the room afterward. It worked well, but did not totally eliminate the need for laundry and other cleaning.
Thus far, the skunk season in our town has been less severe than some past years. This is likely due to locals taking precautions to ensure the supply of food is less prevalent and trapping/eradication efforts by locals. However, as a rural community, the animals will forever be a fact of life. A little up front effort from all of us is important to ensure that the fall air smells like fires in local fireplaces and not the noxious smell of the striped skunk.
