Skunks and Other Pestiferous Animals by KAREN WILLIAMS Photo by Robert K. Henschel

It’s Friday night after a long week. You’ve just kicked back and started to plan tomorrow’s birding trip when the dog starts whining to go out. Thinking it’s just an urgent potty break, you get up and open the door. However, the next disruption to your recreational planning isn’t the dog whining to get in. It’s a nasty odor that you feel on the back of your throat more than smell. This is followed shortly by the dog whining to get back in. However, when you get to the door, it is not a mellow animal that greets you; it’s a nasty-smelling one that’s rubbing its eyes and looking for reassurance. Your dog has confronted a skunk and now expects you to solve its problem. Reluctantly you close the door with the dog still outside, go to the kitchen, break out a can of tomato juice, mix yourself a Bloody Mary, and return to your chair.

This is one of those scenarios that is more effectively handled in a preventative manner. Skunks are nocturnal and secretive. They would prefer to go about their business without ever encountering a human or a dog. The trick to effectively coexisting with skunks is understanding their biology and then minimizing interface points.

Skunks are members of the weasel family. The striped skunk is the only species of skunk found in New Jersey. It is about the size of a house cat, primarily black with a white blaze on its forehead and a broad white, usually divided, stripe that runs down its back. Like all skunks, it is omnivorous, feeding on insects (especially grubs), berries and other vegetation, rodents, bird eggs, and garbage. They frequently dig for their food, leaving small conical holes in the soil.

Skunks do not hibernate, but den up for the winter, coming out during warmer periods to feed. Breeding takes place during late winter and the young are born in May. Denning occurs in old animal dens, rock piles, brush piles, and under buildings.

The skunk’s best known feature is the pungent musk it sprays in self defense. Skunks need this defense, since they are not quick, agile creatures. Any creature that wants to could easily catch one (Great Horned Owls do it a lot). They do not, however, spray without warning. They perform an elaborate display of foot stamping, back arching, and shuffling movements before they finally spin rapidly, raise their tails, and fire. Most reasonably intelligent animals (dogs included) only get zapped once.

There are many reasons why people should coexist with skunks. Their carnivorous side keeps many potentially problematic species in check. Mice and grubs need population controls. The skunk’s herbivorous side helps spread the seeds of plants to new territories. We don’t want them eating garbage and pet food, or denning under our houses, but good household management will keep these incidents to a minimum.

Keep your garbage in cans with tight-fitting lids. Readily accessible garbage will create an undesirable concentration of animals (including raccoons, possums, bears, and stray dogs and cats, in addition to skunks) and should be avoided. Keep pet food in the house or in metal cans with tight-fitting lids. Feed your pets inside or make sure no food is left by nightfall.

Foundation openings should be sealed to prevent skunk entry. Digging is no problem for skunks, so holes should be mended, not merely blocked. Freestanding sheds can be especially attractive. Either raise the structure about one foot above the ground and keep the perimeter of the building clear of debris, or secure fencing around the perimeter, burying it a foot in the ground to prevent entry through digging.

Many people build brush piles for birds. No one intentionally builds one for skunks, but the same habitat can potentially serve both populations. If you are concerned about skunks, don’t make your brush piles huge and dense. Birds mostly use brush piles as transient cover while moving around during the day. An airy, loose pile of sticks suits their needs just fine. Skunks need dense piles that provide shelter from rain and other weather at ground level. Rearranging brush piles periodically also helps.

None of this addresses the immediate problem of the smelly, uncomfortable dog. Unless an outdoor kennel is available where the dog can do penance for its actions without spreading the odor around human living spaces, some action is necessary. Tomato juice does not work; I’ve tried it. Most pet supply centers and vets’ offices sell products aimed at removing skunk odor, and I’m sure they work to some extent, but I have not found any deserving a ringing endorsement. The University of Colorado Cooperative Extension says (via the Internet ) that alkaline hydrogen peroxide is one of the best mixtures to remove the odor. I have never tried it, and didn’t want to create a sample to test it on for this article, but it is cheap and worth a try. The recipe is as follows:

• 1 quart three percent hydrogen peroxide
• a quarter-cup baking soda
• one teaspoon liquid soap

Mix all ingredients and bathe affected animal. Rinse with tap water.

Hopefully you’ll never have cause to see if this works, because you’ve implemented this article’s recommendations and skunks are only passing through your yard, not denning there.