In Eastern Massachusetts, we only have one species of skunk, the
striped skunk. Unlike their spotted cousins, striped skunks do not like
to climb. They will climb stairs up to a porch or deck to get to food,
however.
BIOLOGY:
Skunks live underground. They DO NOT hibernate in winter. On the
contrary, they mate in Jan-Feb and are very active every night as long
as temperatures are favorable. Young skunks are born around April to
May, and begin to emerge from the den around Mid-June. Up to 13 may be
in a litter. The number of young varies from year to year depending on
food and denning conditions. In the Fall, the young leave their mothers
and strike out to find a territory of their own. Later in the season,
around December they start to den up with others, possibly in
preparation for the mating season, or maybe just to keep warm.
FOODS:
Skunks will eat just about anything that is edible. Small rodents,
snakes, worms, insects, grubs, carrion, and, of course, garbage, bird
seed, and pet food.
DAMAGE:
Problem skunks are usually nesting under a building in a crawlspace, or
under a shed or deck. They will also cause a whole lot of damage to a
lawn if grubs are present. Occasionally, they will wander into your
garage if the door is left open. They do get rabies, distemper, and can
have parasites and diseases. They will also dig under structures to
live, or move into an existing woodchuck hole. Unfortunately, in
suburbia, their numbers can get so large in a small area, that skunk
problems will become commonplace in certain neighborhoods.
click here for photos
REMEDIATION:
The usual situation is where there is one, two, or a family of skunks
living under a building, and the odor becomes intolerable. In these
situations, I remove the skunks that are living there, with cage traps,
and then the entrances need to be closed. Trenching around the
perimeter is required, along with the use of a heavy screen (e.g.
hardware cloth) to prevent others from digging under the same building.
I believe in "remove and exclude". Once the skunks are out, the
building perimeter needs to be sealed.
Another problem is skunks digging grubs in your new several thousand
dollar lawn. This situation is a little more difficult if you don't
know where the skunk(s) are living. They can still be trapped and
removed, but there may be several causing the damage. Sometimes a grub
treatment alone will solve the problem. It may take a few weeks and
damage to the lawn will continue, but once the grubs are gone, the
skunks should stop visiting also, unless they are living close by. Fox
urine, or mothballs does NOT repel skunks. Mothballs are toxic and
could possibly cause the skunk to die under your building. Not a
pleasant experience.
The
tracks are generally in line, the same way a cat walks. They look very
similar to cat tracks, except you can see the claws sticking out.
Skunks cannot retract their claws like cats do. In snow, or soft dirt,
it is fairly easy to tell the difference.
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