Skunks are easy going animals that prefer to hide rather than look for trouble. However, sometimes their lifestyle makes them unfriendly neighbors to have around. If you have a garden or lawn, there is a chance that skunks will go for your garden or lawn once they gain access to your property. They don’t do this because they are destructive but because they most likely find their food there.
Skunks are omnivores and can eat a variety of things. One food source that is almost readily available for them are the small animals in the soil. Using their powerful claws, skunks can dig through lawns looking for small insects like grubs, earthworms, and other insects. This digging will definitely leave bad track and dig marks in your lawn making it look unkempt and ugly. Food, however, is not the only reason why skunks dig. Some of the other reasons include:
Breeding
Skunks may sometimes raise their babies in abandoned dens built by other animals or a makeshift cozy place. However, sometimes they dig their own holes in the ground and fortify it with branches and grass. This den is used to raise their babies until they are old enough to be on their own. If you see signs of digging in your yard, it is possible that the skunks living in that hole have a number of babies out there. They mostly dig just before the breeding season which starts in late winter and early spring.
Shelter
Skunks are nocturnal and they prefer to sleep during the day and hunt at night. If they gain access to your property, skunks will dig holes in your lawn if they cannot find any ready-made shelter. They plug the hole with twigs and branches and make it their home.
How to confirm that skunks are responsible for the holes in your garden
There are several other animals that love to dig just like the skunk. Raccoons also love to make holes in lawns. Therefore, before you conclude, you have to do your findings and make sure that the perpetrator is indeed a skunk. They have black fur with white stripes or spots. They are quite small, more like the size of a small cat. Another way to confirm is by their popular foul smell or spray. If you smell something awful around, then it might likely be the spray from a skunk.
What to do about skunk digging?
You can decide to wait them out if you are patient or do not mind your lawn being upturned. Skunk activities on your lawn may increase during spring and reduce drastically during winter. Eventually, after winter, they may decide to move on to another place, leaving your lawn and property alone. If you cannot wait for that to happen, then the best thing to do is to trap them and relocate them to a safe location where they won't have access to your lawn. You can do this by trapping them live or getting the help of a professional.
Another homemade remedy you can try to dissuade them from coming to your lawn is to spray cayenne pepper all around the lawn, although this requires constant reapplication and can affect pets too. You can also decide to add some light to your lawn. Skunks are sensitive to light and they will keep away from areas with lots of light. You may set up a motion detected lighting system on your yard to dissuade the skunks. A motion activated water sprinkler will also work great as skunks hate getting wet and will run away if water is sprinkled on them.
Go back to the Westmoreland County wildlife removal home page.