Hi All,


Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.


I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil.


Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.


Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:


1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.


2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.


3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.


The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle, isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!


4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!


5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!


6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless


So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??


I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.


Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and 5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!


We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.


I called a couple of exterminators, and they all want between $150 and
$200 dollars to try to catch the skunk in a cage and then relocate it.
The problem with that is I am only working part-time right now, and
CAN'T afford those prices.


My neighbors lawns aren't getting destroyed by this nuisence skunk, only
our yard!? I guess the previous owners of the house had 4 big truck
loads of dark, rich loam installed in the backyard, so there are lots of
earthworms for him to eat before winter.


What the heck is chocolate supposed to do!? I know that it can be
dangerous to dogs, but why would it be dangerous to skunks when they rip
open peoples garbage bags and eat through there anyway!?


Does human urine really work? Am I supposed to pee in a cup, and dump
that everywhere? But won't that kill the grass?


What about mothballs? Will the smell of mothballs keep the skunk away?
But aren't they bad for the lawn and grass? What if they were in a cup?


Someone told me to use powered lime, coffee grounds or dried blood?


What about a strobe light?


All I know is that in the last 2 weeks, I have spent $40 dollars on hot
pepper spices, $30 dollars on topsoil, $25 dollars on grass seed, and
$18 dollars on peat moss, and I just can't keep this skunk away so that
he stops destroying my backyard.


Like I said above, I can't just wait for him to show up at a specific
time, because he comes at different times throughout the night. One time
he came at 9 pm. Another time it was 11 pm. Once it was 4:30 am. And
once at 5:30 am.


I am at "wits-end" with this skunk, so ANY suggestions will be greatly
appreciated!!!


Thanks!

So I go to Home Depot to see if they have this stuff that I read about
called "Critter Ridder". It's made by some company called "Hav-A-Heart",
and it is supposed to be a pesticide-free way to keep all kinds of
wildlife out of your yard and garden. It comes in a blue bottle, and it
is suppose to repel dogs, cats, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, opossums,
etc, etc. from your yard and garden.


It is made up of a bunch of different strong smelling peppers that the
animals don't like to smell, like Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Red
Pepper, Hot Chile Pepper, etc, etc. All these hot and spicy peppers are
mixed together, and they put something on it, so that it's waterproof,
and it lasts for 30 days, so you don't have to worry about the rain
washing it away, or it washing away when you water your lawn and/or
garden.


Anyway, I didn't see it in the garden section of Home Depot, so I ask
the guy working there. He tells me that they "don't have any in stock".


I tell him that "I have a skunk destroying my yard every night".


He says "you got grubs".


I tell him "no, our grass is nice and Green ( grubs turn the grass
Yellow/Brown ), and we did a grub treatment back in July".


I tell him that "in the morning we are finding half eaten, dead
earthworms all over the yard".


He says "oh yeah, skunks will eat earthworms too, because they love
them!".


He then says "If you want to get rid of the skunk, then you have to get
rid of the earthworms".



HUH!!!!!!???? WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!?????? GET RID OF THE EARTHWORMS!!!!???



Oh my god, this guy is working in the freakin garden center at America's
biggest home improvement chain!!?? I felt like telling this guy that he
needs to either transfer to a DIFFERENT department, or he needs to go
back to school and retake Science class, because number #1 unless you
plan on pouring something like gasoline, nuclear, and toxic waste in
your yard, there is no way to kill every single earthworm, and number #2
earthworms are BENEFICIAL to the soil in your yard!!!! You WANT
earthworms in your lawn!!!!!!


Home Depot guy: "well if you want the skunks to stop digging up your
yard, YOU GOT TO GET RID OF THE EARTHWORMS".


OMG!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

In article ,
(MICHELLE H.) wrote:

So I go to Home Depot to see if they have this stuff that I read about
called "Critter Ridder". It's made by some company called "Hav-A-Heart",
and it is supposed to be a pesticide-free way to keep all kinds of
wildlife out of your yard and garden. It comes in a blue bottle, and it
is suppose to repel dogs, cats, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, opossums,
etc, etc. from your yard and garden.


It is made up of a bunch of different strong smelling peppers that the
animals don't like to smell, like Black Pepper, Cayenne Pepper, Red
Pepper, Hot Chile Pepper, etc, etc. All these hot and spicy peppers are
mixed together, and they put something on it, so that it's waterproof,
and it lasts for 30 days, so you don't have to worry about the rain
washing it away, or it washing away when you water your lawn and/or
garden.


Anyway, I didn't see it in the garden section of Home Depot, so I ask
the guy working there. He tells me that they "don't have any in stock".


I tell him that "I have a skunk destroying my yard every night".


He says "you got grubs".


I tell him "no, our grass is nice and Green ( grubs turn the grass
Yellow/Brown ), and we did a grub treatment back in July".


I tell him that "in the morning we are finding half eaten, dead
earthworms all over the yard".


He says "oh yeah, skunks will eat earthworms too, because they love
them!".


He then says "If you want to get rid of the skunk, then you have to get
rid of the earthworms".



HUH!!!!!!???? WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!?????? GET RID OF THE EARTHWORMS!!!!???



Oh my god, this guy is working in the freakin garden center at America's
biggest home improvement chain!!?? I felt like telling this guy that he
needs to either transfer to a DIFFERENT department, or he needs to go
back to school and retake Science class, because number #1 unless you
plan on pouring something like gasoline, nuclear, and toxic waste in
your yard, there is no way to kill every single earthworm, and number #2
earthworms are BENEFICIAL to the soil in your yard!!!! You WANT
earthworms in your lawn!!!!!!


Home Depot guy: "well if you want the skunks to stop digging up your
yard, YOU GOT TO GET RID OF THE EARTHWORMS".


OMG!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!

I ignore the occasional hole and use milky spore disease. Take a look
at

http://pubs.cas.psu.edu/freepubs/pdfs/uh101.pdf

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
http://www.informationisbeautiful.ne...l-supplements/

MICHELLE H. wrote:

So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??


Try a motion-activated sprinkler. (I'm not sure if they work in the
dark.) Nobody likes getting hit with a stream of cold water -- except
maybe a duck.

So be glad it's not a flock of ducks tearing up your yard. ;-)

Bob

hi Michelle H, Living in England, I know nothing about skunks except even over her we know that they have foul smelling glands but I am also a very avid salmon angler and know all about worms, as we use them for bait and the way we collect them is to quietly creep around lawns at night with a torch as the worms come out of the ground and lay on the surface and obviously your skunk knows this as well !! So the garden centre guy was right, get rid of the worms and maybe you'll get rid of the skunk as well ?? So now with my horticultural hat back on, lets deal wit this !! you are also right, worms are very beneficial but in lawns, greenkeepers also try to get rid of them, especially golf club greenkeepers as the casts are an unwanted byproduct of worm's activity !!
In England we used to use a chemical called 'Chlordane' which was watered on and it would kill the worms !! I would suggest you talk to your local gof club greenkeeper and ask him what they use, as I dont know any names of chemicals in use in USA !!
hope this helps, best wishes, Lannerman

On 10/15/2010 3:44 PM, lannerman wrote:
MICHELLE H.;902781 Wrote:
Hi All,


Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.


I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil.



Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.


Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:


1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.


2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.


3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.


The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what
the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle,
isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!


4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!


5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!


6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless


So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??


I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.


Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and
5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!


We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.


I called a couple of exterminators, and they all want between $150 and
$200 dollars to try to catch the skunk in a cage and then relocate it.
The problem with that is I am only working part-time right now, and
CAN'T afford those prices.


My neighbors lawns aren't getting destroyed by this nuisence skunk,
only
our yard!? I guess the previous owners of the house had 4 big truck
loads of dark, rich loam installed in the backyard, so there are lots
of
earthworms for him to eat before winter.


What the heck is chocolate supposed to do!? I know that it can be
dangerous to dogs, but why would it be dangerous to skunks when they
rip
open peoples garbage bags and eat through there anyway!?


Does human urine really work? Am I supposed to pee in a cup, and dump
that everywhere? But won't that kill the grass?


What about mothballs? Will the smell of mothballs keep the skunk away?
But aren't they bad for the lawn and grass? What if they were in a cup?



Someone told me to use powered lime, coffee grounds or dried blood?


What about a strobe light?


All I know is that in the last 2 weeks, I have spent $40 dollars on hot
pepper spices, $30 dollars on topsoil, $25 dollars on grass seed, and
$18 dollars on peat moss, and I just can't keep this skunk away so that
he stops destroying my backyard.


Like I said above, I can't just wait for him to show up at a specific
time, because he comes at different times throughout the night. One
time
he came at 9 pm. Another time it was 11 pm. Once it was 4:30 am. And
once at 5:30 am.


I am at "wits-end" with this skunk, so ANY suggestions will be greatly
appreciated!!!


Thanks!

hi Michelle H, Living in England, I know nothing about skunks except
even over her we know that they have foul smelling glands but I am also
a very avid salmon angler and know all about worms, as we use them for
bait and the way we collect them is to quietly creep around lawns at
night with a torch as the worms come out of the ground and lay on the
surface and obviously your skunk knows this as well !! So the garden
centre guy was right, get rid of the worms and maybe you'll get rid of
the skunk as well ?? So now with my horticultural hat back on, lets deal
wit this !! you are also right, worms are very beneficial but in lawns,
greenkeepers also try to get rid of them, especially golf club
greenkeepers as the casts are an unwanted byproduct of worm's activity
!!
In England we used to use a chemical called 'Chlordane' which was
watered on and it would kill the worms !! I would suggest you talk to
your local gof club greenkeeper and ask him what they use, as I dont
know any names of chemicals in use in USA !!
hope this helps, best wishes, Lannerman






Chlordane was banned here many years ago. (IMHO, it should still be
allowed but only for treating/preventing subterranean termites.) I may
still have a pint of it.

I thought the ammonium sulfate fertilizer that they use so much of on
golf courses drove the worms away.

Bob

In article ,
zxcvbob wrote:

On 10/15/2010 3:44 PM, lannerman wrote:
MICHELLE H.;902781 Wrote:
Hi All,


Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.


I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil.



Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.


Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:


1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.


2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.


3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.


The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what
the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle,
isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!


4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!


5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!


6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless


So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??


I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.


Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and
5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!


We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.


I called a couple of exterminators, and they all want between $150 and
$200 dollars to try to catch the skunk in a cage and then relocate it.
The problem with that is I am only working part-time right now, and
CAN'T afford those prices.


My neighbors lawns aren't getting destroyed by this nuisence skunk,
only
our yard!? I guess the previous owners of the house had 4 big truck
loads of dark, rich loam installed in the backyard, so there are lots
of
earthworms for him to eat before winter.


What the heck is chocolate supposed to do!? I know that it can be
dangerous to dogs, but why would it be dangerous to skunks when they
rip
open peoples garbage bags and eat through there anyway!?


Does human urine really work? Am I supposed to pee in a cup, and dump
that everywhere? But won't that kill the grass?


What about mothballs? Will the smell of mothballs keep the skunk away?
But aren't they bad for the lawn and grass? What if they were in a cup?



Someone told me to use powered lime, coffee grounds or dried blood?


What about a strobe light?


All I know is that in the last 2 weeks, I have spent $40 dollars on hot
pepper spices, $30 dollars on topsoil, $25 dollars on grass seed, and
$18 dollars on peat moss, and I just can't keep this skunk away so that
he stops destroying my backyard.


Like I said above, I can't just wait for him to show up at a specific
time, because he comes at different times throughout the night. One
time
he came at 9 pm. Another time it was 11 pm. Once it was 4:30 am. And
once at 5:30 am.


I am at "wits-end" with this skunk, so ANY suggestions will be greatly
appreciated!!!


Thanks!

hi Michelle H, Living in England, I know nothing about skunks except
even over her we know that they have foul smelling glands but I am also
a very avid salmon angler and know all about worms, as we use them for
bait and the way we collect them is to quietly creep around lawns at
night with a torch as the worms come out of the ground and lay on the
surface and obviously your skunk knows this as well !! So the garden
centre guy was right, get rid of the worms and maybe you'll get rid of
the skunk as well ?? So now with my horticultural hat back on, lets deal
wit this !! you are also right, worms are very beneficial but in lawns,
greenkeepers also try to get rid of them, especially golf club
greenkeepers as the casts are an unwanted byproduct of worm's activity
!!
In England we used to use a chemical called 'Chlordane' which was
watered on and it would kill the worms !! I would suggest you talk to
your local gof club greenkeeper and ask him what they use, as I dont
know any names of chemicals in use in USA !!
hope this helps, best wishes, Lannerman






Chlordane was banned here many years ago. (IMHO, it should still be
allowed but only for treating/preventing subterranean termites.) I may
still have a pint of it.

I thought the ammonium sulfate fertilizer that they use so much of on
golf courses drove the worms away.

Bob

Ammonium Sulfate saturated solution will kill slugs on contact.

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden
http://www.informationisbeautiful.ne...l-supplements/

On Oct 14, 7:39*pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:
Hi All,

Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.

I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil.

Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.

Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:

1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.

2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.

3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.

The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle, isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!

4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!

5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!

6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless

So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??

I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.

Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and 5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!

We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.


If your city or town does not have any kind of animal control, you
might call the local ASPCA, or better yet, look in your county and
state listings. Look for a county extension agent; this sort of thing
is exactly up their line. (Um we even have county extension agents in
New York City). State Department of Environmental Control/Protection
are also good. Failing that, try a local zoo or animal rescue center.
If there's a college/university with a big bio or wildlife ecology
department, there might be a prof. there with a license to collect
mammals.

Also, skunks are notorious rabies carriers and if you have a kid, or
if your neighbors have kids, you might be able to play that card
(although if the skunk is only coming out at night, chances are it's
not rabid). If it's that important to you, you can try laying out some
poisoned bait. I would not be willing to do that myself unless I
thought the animal was rabid, but you might have different priorities.

Chris

On Oct 17, 4:44*pm, Chris wrote:
On Oct 14, 7:39*pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:



Hi All,

Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.

I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil..

Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.

Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:

1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.

2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.

3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.

The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle, isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!

4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!

5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!

6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless

So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??

I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.

Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and 5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!

We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.

If your city or town does not have any kind of animal control, you
might call the local ASPCA, or better yet, look in your county and
state listings. Look for a county extension agent; this sort of thing
is exactly up their line. (Um we even have county extension agents in
New York City). State Department of Environmental Control/Protection
are also good. Failing that, try a local zoo or animal rescue center.
If there's a college/university with a big bio or wildlife ecology
department, there might be a prof. there with a license to collect
mammals.

Also, skunks are notorious rabies carriers and if you have a kid, or
if your neighbors have kids, you might be able to play that card
(although if the skunk is only coming out at night, chances are it's
not rabid). If it's that important to you, you can try laying out some
poisoned bait. I would not be willing to do that myself unless I
thought the animal was rabid, but you might have different priorities.

Chris

Poisoned bait is a terrible suggestion! Nothing could justify another
pet/animal being poisoned for the sake of a lawn. If the skunk has
free access to the yard, so do other animals including children.
Emilie

"mleblanca" wrote in message
...
On Oct 17, 4:44 pm, Chris wrote:
On Oct 14, 7:39 pm, (MICHELLE H.) wrote:



Hi All,

Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard. Also, they aren't destroying it because of grubs (
we did a grub treatment back in July ), the skunk is eating the
earthworms.

I know this because in the morning, there are holes everywhere in the
grass, and there are half-eaten, dead earthworms everywhere in the soil.

Also, I definitely know it's a skunk because I have witnessed him at
different times throughout the night in the backyard. A few times I was
able to scare him away by banging on the metal storm door, but because
he comes at all hours of the night, it's hard to stay up all night and
wait for this pest.

Anyway, here is what I have tried so far that HASN'T worked:

1) I left a portable radio out all night long on a AM talk show radio
station - didn't work.

2) Human hair from shower - didn't work.

3) $40 dollars in different hot and/or strong smelling spices - Red
crushed pepper, cayenne pepper, black pepper, ground cinnamon, garlic,
chili powder, onion powder.

The Cayenne Pepper seemed to work, but the stuff goes fast, and what the
skunk does, is he just digs in another location where there is no
cayenne powder!!! 2-3 bottles of the stuff at $4 dollars a bottle, isn't
enough to cover 5,000 square feet!!!

4) Ammonia and/or ammonia soaked rags - TOTALLY USELESS!!!! The skunk
actually took a dump and left a nice big pile of his poop right next to
an ammonia soaked sock that I put out there!!!!

5) Spotlight/Floodlight - totally useless!!!!

6) Bits of shredded "Irish Spring" soap - useless

So besides leaving a sprinkler on all night long, and wasting precious
gallons of water, what options am I left with here??

I have read everything from human urine, to bear urine, to antifreeze,
to chocolate, to rat poison?? Most of those are all out, because there
are stray cats in the neighborhood, so I don't want to poison anything
with antifreeze or mouse/rat poison.

Shooting this thing is out of the question. I live on a residential
street, and I have neighbors houses 5 feet on the left side of me, and 5
feet on the right side of me. Also, the neighbors weren't to happy when
I left the AM talk station on all night long!!!!!

We don't have an "animal control" officer in our city. The only thing
the useless city will help you with, is if its a large animal like a
deer, bear, wolf, moose, etc, etc.

If your city or town does not have any kind of animal control, you
might call the local ASPCA, or better yet, look in your county and
state listings. Look for a county extension agent; this sort of thing
is exactly up their line. (Um we even have county extension agents in
New York City). State Department of Environmental Control/Protection
are also good. Failing that, try a local zoo or animal rescue center.
If there's a college/university with a big bio or wildlife ecology
department, there might be a prof. there with a license to collect
mammals.

Also, skunks are notorious rabies carriers and if you have a kid, or
if your neighbors have kids, you might be able to play that card
(although if the skunk is only coming out at night, chances are it's
not rabid). If it's that important to you, you can try laying out some
poisoned bait. I would not be willing to do that myself unless I
thought the animal was rabid, but you might have different priorities.

Chris

Poisoned bait is a terrible suggestion! Nothing could justify another
pet/animal being poisoned for the sake of a lawn. If the skunk has
free access to the yard, so do other animals including children.
Emilie

children have free access to a neighbors back yard in the middle of the
night?

Poison seems sensible, but I would put it out late and take it in early. A
few stray cats wouldn't be missed, either.

"Pico Rico" wrote:
"mleblanca" wrote:
Chris wrote:
(MICHELLE H.) wrote:

Does anyone know of any EFFECTIVE way to keep skunks out of the yard.
For about 3 weeks now, we have had a skunk coming out at night and
destroying the yard.

There's a good reason the skunk is foraging in your yard but not your
neighbor's yards, YOU ARE A FILTHY SLOB.

you can try laying out some poisoned bait.

Poisoned bait is a terrible suggestion! Nothing could justify another
pet/animal being poisoned for the sake of a lawn. If the skunk has
free access to the yard, so do other animals including children.
Emilie

Poison seems sensible.

You need to be poisoned, and especially all your family members...
don't need your sicko genes reproducing.

Normal brained folks would use a have-a-heart trap so the critter can
be relocated... AWAY FROM YOU SICK RETARDS.

Hi,


The problem with a poison bait, if it's something "store bought" like
mouse/rat poison, it's usually ineffective against bigger creatures
like, skunks, raccoons, opossums etc. etc. I know this because about
10-15 years ago I had a neighbor who had a problem with the same opossum
that kept jumping into his uncovered trash barrel every night.


He knew it was the same opossum, because the thing was missing part of
it's left ear. These were the days when cities/towns never had the big
90 gallon barrels with the lid. People used the small unlidded barrels.


Well every night the opossum would climb up onto his deck and jump into
the barrel. The guy would then knock the barrel over the next morning,
and the opossum would run away, only to come back the next night, and
jump in there again!


The guy got sick of the opossum jumping in his barrel every night, and
dumped a box of mouse/rat poison blocks in the barrel. That night the
opossum jumped in the barrel and ate all the mouse/rat poison!!! The guy
thought that was the end of the opposum and that it would die, but guess
what, it came back that night, and the next night, and the next night,
and the next night.


The guy threw more mouse/rat poison in there, and the opossum ate all
that, and still kept coming back every single night!!!! After about 2
weeks, the guy gave up and bought a trash barrel with a lid, but the
opposum still showed up every night trying to get into the barrel, even
after eating 2 full boxes of mouse/rat poison blocks!!!!!


Was this some kind of Super opossum or something!? Maybe he should have
tried Kryptonite!?

We have NEVER had a problem with skunks digging up our yard in the last
10+ years. But guess what, he was out there again last night at 4:30 am
destroying our yard. I got up at 4:30 am to get a glass of water, and I
look at the window, and there he is, like 5 feet from the back steps
ripping up the grass and making dirt fly everywhere.


I banged on the back, metal storm door, and the SOB skunk looked at me,
and went back to digging up the yard. I banged it again, and he looked
at me again with an earthworm in his mouth, and went back to digging yet
again! So I banged on the door again hard a Third time, and he finally
wandered away.


Also, moth balls are now proven to be TOTALLY USELESS!!!! I put about 20
mothballs each in some empty plastic soup bowls, and placed them in
about 6 spots where this pest has been digging. Well guess what he did,
he just dug AROUND the bowls with the mothballs like they weren't even
there!!!! The smell didn't seem to bother him one bit!?

In article Brooklyn1 wrote:


Normal brained folks would use a have-a-heart trap so the critter can
be relocated... AWAY FROM YOU SICK RETARDS.

many places relocating is not permitted

don't be such an asshole
--

09=IX