How to Keep Skunks Out of Your Yard

When threatened, some people make inappropriate jokes or act very self-consciously as a defense mechanism. Skunks, on the other hand, release a foul-smelling spray.

And while most of the time is spent sleeping and foraging for food (including many insects and rodents that are commonly considered pests), some people (understandably) don’t want skunks living in their yard—especially if they have dogs or have other pets outdoors. If so, here’s how to tell if skunks live on your property and how to prevent them from moving in in the first place.

Signs that skunks live in your yard

Because skunks are nocturnal, you may not find out that one or more of the animals live near your home until your dog returns from his backyard potty break, before he smells his familiar, pungent odor.

However, since this is the type of situation you want to avoid, keep an eye out for these others character a skunk (or more) can live in your garden:

• Persistent, faint musky odor under a building or woodpile

• Small, shallow holes in the lawn (caused by skunks looking for maggots)
• plants overturned
• Damage to the lower leaves or ears of ripening garden crops (including corn)

How to keep skunks out of your garden

The best way to prevent skunks from moving into your yard is to make it so inhospitable that they’ll want to live elsewhere. This isn’t about harming the skunks in any way, but whether you accidentally created luxurious skunk housing behind your own home, you might want to make it a little less inviting. Here is how does it work:

stop feeding them

When you feed the birds, you also feed the skunks. Sure, putting bird feeders high on poles helps a little, but think about how much of that bird seed ends up on the ground, giving the skunks an all-you-can-eat buffet.

The same goes for feeding your pets outdoors. Skunks don’t care if your cat or dog’s name is printed on their bowl; they’ll help themselves to Fluffy’s Fancy Feast.

Stop feeding them indirectly

Even if you don’t feed the skunks on purpose, you may be doing so indirectly by having an easily accessible garden full of fresh produce for them or by not securing the lids of your garbage cans (they’re not picky).

create housing shortage

In addition to food, skunks need shelter, and your yard may be full of ready-to-live-in shelters for them. some of theirs favorite properties contains:

• piles of wood and stones
• Raised sheds and other outbuildings
• kennels
• Openings under concrete slabs
• Crawling places under porches
• Other partially sheltered nooks and crannies outdoors

In most cases, these are not structures that you can easily move or eliminate. So do your best to make sure they’re as safe as possible, and eliminate (or at least temporarily cover) any potential entry points.