How To Get Rid Of Skunks, According To Experts

Skunks are easy to identify from appearance—and smell! But these handsome mammals typically mind their own business and are more interested in excavating their dinner than in what you’re doing. “They’re primarily insectivores so they provide a useful ecological service, digging up insects in the soil,” says Sheldon Owen, PhD, wildlife extension specialist atWest Virginia University. “The issue is if they decide to den under your porch or crawlspace.”

Although skunks prefer insects such as grubs, worm, wasps, crickets, and beetles, they’ll also eat mice, voles, moles, and other small mammals and raid bee hives. Skunks occasionally eat garbage and carrion. If given the opportunity, they’ll sneak into a chicken coop and eat eggs, too, says Owen.

But, fortunately, skunks are not a huge problem for most homeowners. “They’re not aggressive, and they’ll squirt your dog sooner than you,” says Michael Mengak, PhD, Certified Wildlife Biologist and professor,Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia. “But they can carry rabies, so you should not handle them.”

There are two species of skunks in the Southeast: The striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis), which weighs about 8 to 10 pounds and is the size of a cat; and the less common spotted skunk (Spilogale putorius), which weighs about 5 or 6 pounds. Spotted skunks are a species of concern because scientists are unsure why its population has been declining in recent years, says Mengak.

• Sheldon Owen, PhD, is a wildlife extension specialist at West Virginia University.
• Michael Mengak, PhD, is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and professor, Warnell School of Forestry & Natural Resources at the University of Georgia.

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