Skunks

Skunk Facts

• The Striped Skunk, (Mephitis mephitis), is an omnivorous mammal of the skunk family Mephitidae.
• The Striped Skunk has a black body with a white stripe along each side of its body; the two stripes join into a broader white area at the nape. Its forehead has a narrow white stripe. About the size of a house cat, it weighs 2.5 to 14 pounds (1.2–6.3 kg) note the average weight is 6-8 pounds 2.73kg – 3.64 kg with a body length (excluding the tail) of 13 to 18 inches (33–46 cm). The bushy tail is 7 to 10 inches long (18– 25 cm), and sometimes has a white tip.
• The skunk is crepuscular. Beginning its search for food at dawn and dusk, it feeds on mice, eggs, carrion, insects, grubs, and berries. At sunrise, it retires to its den, which may be in a ground burrow, or beneath a building, boulder, or rock pile.
• While the male dens by itself, several females may live together.
• Although skunks can help keep rodent and insect populations down, they’re in no way a beneficial animal to have around your home.

Skunk Spray

Although skunks can carry rabies, they’re generally not dangerous to humans. They’re more of a nuisance because of their scent. They’ll often burrow under homes and spray a mixture of sulfurous chemicals from their anal glands, leaving homeowners smelling a very strong, unpleasant odor in a room without knowing where it came from. Because a skunk’s spray is oily, it can be difficult to remove from  surfaces and pets.

The sooner you can attempt to remove a skunk’s spray, the better. The longer the spray sits on a surface  or on clothes, the more pungent and difficult to treat it will be.

Removing Skunks from Your Home

If you suspect you have a skunk living around or underneath your home, don’t hesitate to contact an  animal removal specialist. Although it is possible to trap a skunk using a common animal trap, handling a  wild animal can be dangerous and will likely cause you to get sprayed.

At Freedom Pest Control, we are able to determine if a skunk or group of skunks are living around your  home, and can help you safely and effectively remove them from your property. We can also help you  prevent a future skunk problem by sealing off the underneath of your home.