Safely chasing away a skunk - how to?

[Kneigh]

Each evening I put out cat food for a stray cat, and although I live in the suburbs there are many of cat-food loving scavenging possums and skunks and I’ve become resigned to standing guard over the food while the cat’s eating. But lately a cheeky half-grown skunk has been growing harder and harder to shoo away. A couple of days ago I disappeared in the house for a few seconds, and returned to see the skunk with his head in the food dish gobbling away, (cat wisely sitting several feet away). My hand clapping and yelling, only worried the cat, not the skunk who just kept on with his head in the dish, eating away. I next resorted to hitting the food dish w/ a (washable nylon!) girth, but the skunk still kept chowing down. At this point I gave up, figuring there wasn’t much food left in the dish anyway. Ended up refilling the dish after the skunk finished every bit and left w/ a full tummy. A good deal from the skunk’s point of view; cat and human - not so much. :uhoh:

It’s a bit of a razor’s edge - I obviously want to scare the skunk enough to make it go away - but not too much owing to the obvious repercussions of badly scaring a skunk. :eek:

Any ideas fellow COTHer’s?

[JanM]

You’re lucky you didn’t get skunked from hitting the feed bowl. Sitting out cat food will keep the skunk coming around.

[wsmoak]

Feed the kitty in the morning.

I put out food for my cats in the morning, and remove anything they havent eaten by sundown. Otherwise, there will be raccoons on my porch!

[Nezzy]

yep feed the cat in morning.

[Go_Fish]

Hose…with the sprayer set on bomb speed.

After having one of the Corgis sprayed on the back deck, and the skunk obviously not afraid of anything, DH finally lost it one morning and nailed it with the hose. I figured everyone was going to get sprayed at that point, and we’d never get the smell out of the wood. Evidently skunks don’t like water as the sucker has not been back.

[CrowneDragon]

Trying to scare off tame skunks can be hilarious. I was housesitting for my vet and the same skunk got into the cat food stash for the 100th time.

Me: Listen skunk, you need to leave! GO! waves hands

Skunk: What?

Me: GO! throws empty cup GIT!!!

Skunk: Hey wait a minute, why are you mad? Stop throwing stuff at me stomp stomp

Me: Runs at skunk waving hands and shuffling feet GO!!!

Skunk: Knock that off! I will spray you! Don’t make me spray you! STOMP STOMP STOMP!! shows tail

Me: GET LOST!!! throws shoe

Skunk: Dude seriously I am going to have to spray you if you don’t knock it off! STOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMPSTOMP!!! shows tail

Me: towel over face begins pushing skunk with broom

Skunk: This is ridiculous. When Dr. W gets home she’s going to hear about it!

:lol:

[jetsmom]

Put out an extra plate for the skunk. He’ll leave in about 2 months on his own to go find his own territory.

Otherwise, as mentioned. feed in morning.

Feed on a table (skunks can’t jump).

I chased one out of a tackroom once by spraying Endure fly spray above him so it fell down upon him. Apparently they don’t like the smell!

[kimkatsooo]

A squirt bottle filled with ammonia and water? Make sure it got long and hard. Aim for the eyes.

Feed the cat in the morning.

Goodluck

[Kneigh]

Thanks all for your suggestions, plus CrowneDragon’s funny tale.

I think I’ll try the hose next time. And I’ll certainly remember the fly spray tactic as Plan B - which would also do double duty and take care of any annoying ants as well. :winkgrin:

I seriously hope Jetsmom is right and the problem will be solved in a couple of months with the young skunk going to find another territory. There used to be three little ones (litter-mates I’m sure) coming by, now the number’s down to only this very cheeky fellow. Good to know that skunks can’t jump - I’d been wondering about that.

I feed the cat in the evening because that’s the only time he’s around. He’s a very timid cat and evidently just normal daily activity with folk coming by on the sidewalk, gardeners, trash trucks, etc. is just too scary for him.

[JanM]

Please wear some type of eye protection, because if you get skunked the spray in the eyes is agonizing. Also, stock up on the separate ingredients of skunk removal mixture, but you know not to mix it up in advance, or you’ll have another clean up problem.

[Nezzy]

it’s true they do hate bad smells( ironic) and if you use some ammonia around the place you feed, it might discourage him.

[jetsmom]

[QUOTE=Kneigh;7635573]
Thanks all for your suggestions, plus CrowneDragon’s funny tale.

I think I’ll try the hose next time. And I’ll certainly remember the fly spray tactic as Plan B - which would also do double duty and take care of any annoying ants as well. :winkgrin:

I seriously hope Jetsmom is right and the problem will be solved in a couple of months with the young skunk going to find another territory. There used to be three little ones (litter-mates I’m sure) coming by, now the number’s down to only this very cheeky fellow. Good to know that skunks can’t jump - I’d been wondering about that.

I feed the cat in the evening because that’s the only time he’s around. He’s a very timid cat and evidently just normal daily activity with folk coming by on the sidewalk, gardeners, trash trucks, etc. is just too scary for him.[/QUOTE]

I feed the barn cats and for the last 4 yrs, have had a litter of 3 or 4 skunks come eat with the cats. They come running to the plate as I am lowering it to the ground. They eat at my feet, and I can step over them and they don’t move. They always leave on their own after about 2 months. When I was researching them, it said they will leave to go find their own territory of about 30-40 acres each. They’ve left on their own each year, so I think it’s true. Except last yr, I was kneeling down to put some food down for a cat, and when I turned around (still kneeling), there was a big, adult skunk sitting beside me, looking like “Where’s my plate?” So I put some food down for him, stood up and left. I think it was one of the grown up babies from the year before.

You might want to check your state dept of health website to see rabies stats each yr. I’m not worried about rabid skunks here, because going back to 2001, they’ve tested 200-400 skunks a yr in this county, and NEVER had one test positive for rabies. But it can be a problem in other areas.