Yesterday morning I went out to kill a large in ground yellowjacket nest that I spotted near my garden fence. To my astonishment something already took care of the issue while I was sleeping, a few hours prior to my intended execution of the job. And no pesticides needed! That skunk executed a flawless and clean job. The yellowjacket nest was decimated and only 1 straggling wasp was found crawling a few inches out of the hole. Thank you skunk!
If your skunk ever fails you, a few shovelfulls of heavy wet dirt always does the trick for me with inground nests. I usually knock out their paper nests with a strong stream of water with my hose, finishing it off with a long pole and stomping any egg masts. I’m doing this regularly because I manage so many orchards. When they find an entrance way into walls they can be a problem unless you can plug up the hole.
Cool mornings help make the jobs less hazardous, but I very seldom get stung if I see the nest before disturbing it (generally, while summer pruning). This year I got most nests around my property early and they didn’t become as much a problem as they did in many of the other orchards I manage.
Yes, nice!
(But if you have beehives, skunks will also eat those bees…so be warned.)
And kill chickens! Lost at least 6 to skunks before I got an autoclose door.
Adult hens, or little ones?
I don’t like yellow jackets or skunks…
We know a couple that went out late one evening with their little house dog and left their garage door open. When they came back inside (thru the garage) their little house dog went over to the corner of the garage behind some boxes, and got a direct hit from a Skunk that had come inside with the door up.
The little house dog retreated and ran thru the door, inside the house and started rubbing the fresh skunk smell all over their carpet and sofa… their entire house smelled awful they could not even sleep there for several days and had to have expensive professional cleaning done.
I personally wipe out yellow jackets and skunks with equal enthusiasm.
I am glad yours helped you out, but I would not trust one hanging around my house and yard.
Don’t leave any doors open especially late in the evening or at night.
My dog got hit by a skunk. Even after you think the smell is gone, just add a little water and it’s like it just happened agian. For months.
The skunks need to step up their game in my neighborhood.
We’ve had skunks go after eggs but have been lucky enough not to have them go after chicks or adult birds.
My dogs get skunked several times a year. Hose off with water, scrub with this mixture, and rinse:
1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide
1/4 cup baking soda
1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap
Works GREAT. You can use it on clothes, etc too.
Both
Well, I think skunks are sweet and your little anecdote sounds to me like an exceptionally rare occurrence. Skunks usually stay out of houses, unlike coons and squirrels, at least to my knowledge. Maybe it was the stupid dog that deserved to be shot.
Perhaps I’ve been influenced by Pepe Le Pew.
I like skunks, too. My influence was my mother. She had a collection of nearly 100 ceramic and wooden skunks, and I inherited it.
I used to collect skunks too…
Late 70’s early 80’s.
Never caught one on purpose… but if you set 100s of traps for coon, fox, bobcat… you are going to get a few skunks.
I skinned and sold each one. Yep… try skinning a skunk sometime
They brought 3-4 bucks at fur sale and a possum was about the same. Grey fox more like 35-40 bucks.
Fur coats were much more in fashion back then!!
Too bad there’s still not a good price for some of the pelts at the present time.
(If squirrel hides would bring $100, there’d be fewer eating our fruits and nuts I think.)
My chocolate lab got skunked twice. We used a similar concoction as yours. To this day my chocolate lab has some bleached spots on her head from the hydrogen peroxide.
My mother received her first ceramic skunk as a reward for shooting a skunk dead before it reached the farm’s spring house where all the milk was cooling.
@Lodidian … your mother is much more brave than my wife… no way would she do that.
Every time we see a skunk in the yard… my wife is afraid to even feed the cat on the back porch.
No more taking the compost stuff out either…
I usually do that but she does occasionally tooo…
But not when she knows a skunk is around.
I have to get rid of them to get things back to normal around here.
my wifes like that too but shes not much of a yard person. i have a family of 4 under my shed. theyve been coming back every year for 6 yrs now to have their babies. my dogs are in a fenced area unless walking the yard with me so we havent had issues. they eat the jb grubs out of my lawn and we respect each other. many times ive come across them in the yard around dusk. had them pass by me by less than 2 ft. i just hold still and let them go by. the mother barely gives me a look. see them foraging under the street light at night. never had them in the garage or mess with my chicks but i dont free range either. so far its been a win/ win for both of us. my mother had one as a pet when the neighbor killed the mother. they had it descented. unfortunately the guy that killed the mother shot my mother’s also a few years later. he liked to disassemble the house at night.