Skunk Removal: 423-502-8148
Removing Skunks from Crawlspaces, Under Sheds, and Porches
A critical thing for Regional residents to know before trapping skunks
The first thing that residents with a skunk in their crawlspace, under a shed, or under a porch in Bristol should know, is that we are in a “no relocation zone” for rabies prone species (which includes skunks). Fortunately, this does not keep us from humanely freeing your home of skunks. I detail why relocation is a problem and how to get around this issue in this article.
We Live in a Rabies Critical Zone
Gap under Johnson City HVAC unit that allowed skunks entrance to crawlspace. This gap was only a couple of inches wide.
Infected skunks do not show signs of rabies until the later stages of the disease, so you could easily be hauling an infected animal. Relocating a rabies prone animal, like a skunk, risk starting an outbreak somewhere else in the area. So, it is illegal to relocate a skunk due, in great part, to rabies risk. This is an even more important thing to understand in Bristol because we live in the mountains between two distinct rabies zones. There are different strains of rabies, and each rabies prone species has its own strain. The raccoon strain spans the area between the mountains and the Atlantic Ocean and the skunk strain is west of the mountains. We sit right between the two. The mountains we live in have helped provide a natural barrier to migration between the two strains because skunks and raccoons aren’t quite as abundant at higher elevations. Lower densities of animals makes it harder for the disease to jump between individuals. Though it can easily jump species, each strain stays primarily within the species. Having a strain cross the mountains in either direction and get out of control would be terrible.
I spoke with the Bristol USDA office which covers the local Virginia counties for more details on this. There is a separate office that covers the counties in Tennessee all this information would apply in those counties also. The USDA monitors this situation and regularly test animals from our region. They have also worked hard when outbreaks have occurred by air dropping vaccine packets in our area. I remember finding one of these packets not far outside of Bristol in the Haskel Station area several years ago. According to the Bristol USDA office, an outbreak can cost two million dollars to treat and can spread to the point that it covers a square mile in just two weeks. Thanks in great part to the efforts of our local USDA workers, we have very little problems with rabies in skunks in our region. Needless to say, Wildlife Company LLC does not relocate skunks.
Screened Skunk Burrow Under Concrete Slab in Johnson City Tn.
Good News - we can still get rid of your skunk from under your house, Shed, or deck
The good news is that this probably won’t even change my recommendations for dealing with a skunk in your crawlspace or under your shed. Relocation issues aside, I prefer to just get rid of the skunk with some type of one way door anyway. A one way door looks a little like a trap, but attaches over the exit point where the skunk comes and goes. My one way door allows the skunk to push its way out, but it does not allow the skunk to return. This is great because no one has to handle the skunk and risk getting sprayed. The skunk is not stuck there inside the trap waiting for the first dog, child, or other wild animal to come by and cause it to spray. Skunks stuck inside a trap are anxious and much more likely to spray anyway. One way doors are superior because the skunk just goes on its merry way. I like to set motion cameras on the exit to make sure that the skunk has left. Once the skunk is out, the entrance is sealed and all is good. Though I can usually get a skunk onto the truck without spraying if I trap, there is always that risk. Trapping and relocating a skunk from under the house or other structure is the hard way to go anyway.
Skunk droppings outside of HVAC unit it was crawling under. Notice coin for scale.
Attaching a one way door seems like a relatively simple process, but making the skunk go through it is an entirely different story. Skunks are masters at scooting under or around the door. Sometimes it takes me a trip or two to tweak things so that things work like they are supposed to and I have been doing this work forever. I always double check my one way doors to make sure they have not been bypassed before sealing the entrance.
A complication - Skunk Babies
If you have a skunk under your house, shed, or deck Wildlife Company LLC always likes to consider whether or not it is a female and if she has a litter. The reason is that both taps and one way doors can get momma skunk out, but they don’t do anything to get the babies out if they are not walking yet. If you think that you have this problem, it is a good idea to try to convince momma skunk to leave with some type of deterrent and a motion camera to take care of this. Wildlife Company LLC can set this up for you. Momma skunks can move their babies if they decide to. If moving momma out is impossible, it is a good idea to give momma skunk some time till the babies are more mature and are on their feet. We can also monitor the coming and going of momma and the babies and set up equipment as soon as momma has moved her litter out. Keep in mind that you do not want to trap baby skunks inside. Of all my customers who suffer with bad dead animal stink, my skunk customers suffer the most. Dead skunks create the normal dead animal odor, but have an additional skunk spray odor on top of that.
Skunk burrow under a client’s deck.
It doesn’t smell like a skunk,so it must be gone, I can plug the burrow…Right?
Not really, homeowners sometimes consider the presence or lack of skunk odor to be a dependable indicator of skunk presence. However, that is not necessarily the case. One of my favorite customer quotes is: “you only smell the unhappy skunk”. Skunks do not want to spray and if they have not been provoked recently, they will not smell that bad. Skunks may very well be in the area, but have not released their scent recently. Thus, burrows or entry points that do not have an odor are not necessarily free of skunks. Conversely, lingering skunk odors tell very little of skunk presence. Odors will linger for weeks and may reappear when conditions are favorable. A dead skunk will create an odor even longer than a spraying incident. The bottom line is that if you have a possible skunk entrance, you need to treat it as though there were a skunk in it and install a one way door or at least run a motion camera. We can do that for you.
skunks and AC units
I rarely get a skunk under an AC unit call, but other types of skunk calls often lead me back to this issue. Some AC units leave hard to notice passageways to your crawlspace. Sometimes there are gaps between the ground and parts of the unit and sometimes there are openings in the unit itself. It seems like some AC installers seem to be generally unaware of this problem. Skunks are also excellent diggers and can expand entrances between the ground and unit that are too small. Once the skunk does this, she can raise her litter inside the crawlspace undisturbed.
We inspect after trapping
After the skunk devices have been in place for several days, and we are confident that the skunk is out of the home, I usually do a crawl through inspection to make sure that everything is good under your home. If there is the possibility that there is a skunk under the home, it is obviously not a good idea to go under the home, shed, or porch to check things out.
