How to Discourage Skunks in Your Garden

Skunks visit urban gardens in search of a free meal. Grubs, fallen fruit and uneaten pet food are all welcome signs for hungry skunks. Unfortunately, they dig up turf in search of grubs and make life very unpleasant when confronted. Here's how to discourage skunks from visiting your yard.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bells
• Plastic Garbage Cans
• Sports Referee Whistles

1. Pick up and remove any uneaten pet food. Skunks are nocturnal and search for food during the night and evening hours. Fido's leftover dinner is a welcome mat to hungry skunks in search of a meal.

2. Keep fallen fruit picked up off the ground. Skunks are scavengers and will consume anything edible.

3. Use garbage cans with tight-fitting lids. Keep the area around the garbage can clean and free of food debris.

4. Turn your compost pile often if you use eggshells, fruit rinds or peels. By keeping the compost pile turned, the compost will heat up and decompose much faster.

5. Rid your lawn of grubs and cutworms. Skunks search for insect larvae under the top few inches of soil in lawns. Not only do the skunks do a lot of damage, so do the grubs. Use beneficial nematodes to eliminate grubs from your lawn.

6. Eliminate snails and slugs from your garden by raking up fallen plant debris and using copper foil around planting beds. Skunks enjoy a late-night snack of escargot.

Tips & Warnings

• If you or your pet does come into contact with a skunk, see "eHow to Get Skunk Smell Out of Pet Fur" in Related Sites.
• Never corner or harass wild animals. Back away and let them leave in their own good time. Ring a bell or blow a whistle to frighten them if you must, but do it from a distance.
• If you see a skunk during the day, call Animal Control immediately. The skunk may have rabies.

on 11/22/2005 Despite the myth, it's really not all that rare to see skunks in the daytime. Don't assume that a skunk has rabies if you see it in the daylight. Like racoons, skunks are nocturnal, but they are often seen during the day when food is scarce. Mama skunks (and racoons) may have to venture out in the light when they have babies to feed. It's no cause for alarm.

They do dig holes in your garden, but they're looking for the grubs that would kill your plant roots anyway. They also rid your garden of a lot of pests that will destroy plants and plant roots.

Skunks are very shy, and despite their reputation, will only spray as an absolute last resort. If you see a skunk, just let it be and it will probably wander away. But if you want it to go away sooner, just let it see you (skunks are extremely near-sighted and are afraid of everything)! They'll raise their tail to scare you off, but will run away if you give them an escape route. If that doesn't work, push them gently along with a broom (not the handle), and they'll probably just move along.