Skunk wars outside!

Oh this is just ENOUGH already! We have GOT to get lights set up outside!!!!

We live in a very rural forest/farmland area in NW NJ, and for the past month we have been having problems with skunks outside.

Two weeks or so I was in the kitchen and heard a strange squeaking/squealing kind of noise. I thought it was the fan in the vent over the stove. I turned it off - and it got louder! Then I freaked that it was a cat being attacked - I ran to the living room window - just as the VERY strong smell of skunk spray invaded the RV. I popped my head out the window - and there were two skunks rolling around in a ball, one with its mouth on the other's neck. Gary came running and started barking really loudly like a dog out the window - and they bolted. But they were fighting (or mating?) RIGHT underneath the grill for the vent for our furnace (ducted heating). It was horrible! Our mouths and eyes were burning! (Imagine what it was like for the poor kitties in here ).

At that point we ran over to the other side - and saw an almost all white skunk with a thin black stripe down its back running across the yard (not one of the two on the other side) !!!!

I mean - mating season isn't January/February is it? It's been cold and then snowing.... Gary thought maybe a territory war.

That was the third time there had been skunk spray inside of a couple of weeks. I looked up how to deter skunks (solar lights)... but we didn't make a trip to a store that would have such things... and that seemed to be the end of the problem, because they haven't been back (or spraying, anyway) - until about 15 minutes ago.

I always get worried that one of the ferals has to do with it.....

...but we religiously pick up the food every night (forgot once about a month ago) for exactly this reason.

So why are they here and what are they doing?????????????????

But you know where we're going tomorrow! Thank goodness we have electric outlets outside on both sides of the RV. Given the circumstances, I doubt the neighbors are going to mind the bright lights.

Can anyone say UGH!?!

Call DNR and ask them what you can do about the situation. That's horrible. We lived in the country and would see an occasional one (and a raccoon too), but they never were fighting on OUR farm or near the house - thank God.

I hope someone can come up with a solution soon. The almost all white skunk sounds kinda cool tho

Do you have any neighbors that are leaving things out or trash nearby that they can get into?

... I'm having a vague deja-vu moment here. Was it you or someone else who had issues with neighbors doing just that in a RV or trailer park?

That white one does sound cool!
Sorry, I know that must be an awful stink for you. I just find the skunkies so cute. From a distance.

i must be an odd ball cause i like the smell of a skunk....lol. Laurie funny you posted this because I have noticed an explosion of skunk roadkill the last few weeks up here. Hopefully the lights work...good luck!

I think they're really cute too - from a distance. They way they waddle around... apparently people have them as pets! When I went looking for how to keep them out of the yard, I found a site devoted to people who love them. I did not spend the time reading up on how they deal with the smell (though how to get rid of skunk smell in your home had some great ideas ).

And no, we've got some issues with the neighbors, but it isn't lights at night (it's loud music outside during the day, among other things. ).

And no, there's no food source like dog food or cat food or garbage around.

When we were first trapping cats in the RV park, when we started trapping skunks on a regular basis and noticed we were going through a LOT of food, we started putting the food out on a slatted wooden table. Then we started putting it out in the morning and picking up at night.

And I really don't see a need to call DNR. We abut a forest - it's like - 8 feet from the back of our RV. I expect that if we leave cat food out we'll attract skunks, possums and racoons... and there are definitely foxes and a LOT of deer around.

No, they're nocturnal animals, so just putting out bright solar lights at night will keep them out of the immediate area. My biggest concern is the deck side, because that's where the ferals hunker down at least during the day. Though... we want to keep them off the other side too, because that spray-in-the-furnace was one of those "once is too many times" kind of things.

If they go bother the neighbors, they can get their own lights.

Originally Posted by FootersOwnsMe

i must be an odd ball cause i like the smell of a skunk....lol. Laurie funny you posted this because I have noticed an explosion of skunk roadkill the last few weeks up here. Hopefully the lights work...good luck!

Click to expand...

Yeah - it's strange!!!!!!!!!!!! Come to think of it, we've seen several on the road too.

And sorry, but yes, if you like the smell of skunk you're an oddball!

Originally Posted by LDG

I did not spend the time reading up on how they deal with the smell (though how to get rid of skunk smell in your home had some great ideas

).

Click to expand...

They don't. Pet skunks have their scent glands removed - and if they're not being bred, they're also spay and neutered.

Maybe smells are attracting them some. I wouldn't worry about the cats, though. I've never seen skunks and cats quarrel.

Ok, I just looked it up. Skunk mating season starts in February. My guess is it started a little early this year because we had some strange weather in January - it went from single digits to 50 degrees one week - and was warm for a few days before all the snow storms started.

The skunks don't exactly hibernate - but they do hunker down in a den for an extended period of time...

...which would explain the increase of dead skunks on the side of the road (and the live ones in our yard!). They've been sleeping in their dens the last few months, and are now out mating.

Thank goodness that MN still has PLENTY of snow on the ground - no skunks..........yet!

We have skunks. Yes, February is mating month.

One year, I kept getting little wiffs through the house and I heard little tiny squeeks coming from the area of the front door.

A mother skunk had had her babies under our porch. Well, being the animal lover I am, I just let them live there. She must have not been scared to have them there and I took that as a compliment. So toward evening, we just used the back door because that is when she would lead them out and into the fields to get food. We stayed out of her way and eventually they left.

I was told to leave a radio on under the porch or a flashlight. That would discourage her from going in there, but it was OK. I am a proponent of "live and let live". Besides, you start fooling around with skunks and that's when there is trouble.

An animal rehab girl told me "you have the luckiest skunks in the county".

I feel for you hun! We have skunks too but I never see them, just smell them. Not pleasent by any means.

OMG I'm so sorry you're getting skunked!!! I've never had to deal with skunk wars so have no advice for you. Our dogs keep skunks from getting too close to our house so I've not had to worry about them. The year that we lived without dogs, we did have a skunk get under our house and spray under there. It took days to get the smell out of the house.

I'll just send vibes that you can keep them away from your home!

Ew Laurie What a stinky problem!

Originally Posted by LDG

Can anyone say UGH!?!

Click to expand...

There, I said it but it probably didn't help. But perhaps this will:

Oh so February is mating month for the skunks? That would explain why all of a sudden there has been a bunch of skunk roadkill. Poor skunks, the world is against them.

Thankfully they've got lots of options for dens to raise their babies.... and once mating season is over, I doubt it'll be an ongoing problem. In fact.... that's what I should look up! How long this is going to go on! (I assume through Mar-April though. ).

They'll still have plenty of territory without our yard.

I had a problem with racoons a few years back. I heard a loud ruckus outside the living room window and I saw what I thought was a racoon attacking a cat but it was two racoons mating. I shushed them away and they did take off. This was summertime and my windows were open so the sound was heard easily. Lucky tho, racoons don't stink up the neighborhood.

Ewww! And I thought I had it bad with fighting geese every spring and fall!

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

Ewww! And I thought I had it bad with fighting geese every spring and fall!

Click to expand...

I'm not sure I'd want to trade! I've been to places where there's goose poop everywhere - that's another ewww! This should only be for a month or so - and hopefully the outside lights at night will stop the immediate-area problem.