How Can Skunks Damage Under Your House?

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Skunks are comfortable living around humans and are rarely aggressive, but they are potentially dangerous to physical structures and properties. Being omnivorous, they generally feed on anything they can find. Having one or more take up residence on your property could spell a whole lot of damage.



Skunks love to burrow and they would dig holes in the most ridiculous places – including under a house or an outhouse. They possess large feet with very strong and sharp, pointed claws that aid them in their digging adventures. In their search for grubs, they usually leave these cone-shaped holes and patches around your lawn, garden or golf course. They do not auger well for the landscape either.

Whether it is to look for grub or to make a home, skunks love to dig under buildings. They would enter foundation openings and are capable of causing some expensive damage to the structure of the building and to your landscape.

Unfortunately indeed, skunks will often fall into an area under the foundation, from where they are unable to climb out by themselves. In this trapped state, they would die from starvation and release a very putrid smell that would stay around long after the carcass may have been removed. Needless to say, the process of locating and removing the carcass would likely be a complex and expensive one.

Skunk odor contaminates porous household items like clothes, carpet, rugs, drapes or even furniture may get so contaminated with this smell that they would have to be disposed of.

For this reason and for the fact that skunks can be rabid, it is advisable to put preventive measures in place and avert potential skunk problems. These measure include exclusion practices, fencing, habitat modification, and the use of repellent solutions. If a skunk is already on your property, live trapping combined with exclusion practices is the way to go.

Note: skunks are rarely active during the day and while the sighting of one in daytime may only be due to hunger, it may also mean that the skunk is rabid! Look out for signs like circling movements, disorientation, limb weakness, unusual boldness or unusual tameness. If any of these abnormal behaviors is observed, you must not attempt to get rid of the skunk by yourself, but alert your local animal department, a wildlife expert, or the police department for help.

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