Skunks on the Move

It’s been a busy skunk season so far here in the Akron, Canton, Kent area, and it’s only just getting started.

Ryan’s Text: 10 Skunks!

In fact, one job (which is featured in the video below) ultimately yielded 10 Skunks! That is a record number of skunks for us from one location for sure. It seems that the combination of mild weather and the onset of breeding have skunks moving far and wide.

Consequently, this increase in movement brings a lot more Stark, Summit, and Portage County residents into contact with skunks than at any other time of the year.

There are more skunk sightings, more skunk versus car incidents, and more dog versus skunk run-ins.

There is also an increase in skunk smell in general as territorial issues among skunks lend to the release of their unique calling card.

Skunk Problem versus Skunk Sighting

What we’d encourage anyone whose seen a skunk and found this blog post to ask his/herself is: Do I really have a skunk problem?

Just because you’ve seen a skunk in your yard or out walking the dog, we caution you not to conclude that you have a real skunk problem that needs a nuisance animal removal company like us to come out and solve (at a cost to you).

Simply setting traps where skunks have been seen usually results in no skunks captured at all. This is why many conversations with potential clients end up with us dissuading the caller from having us or another company come out. 75% of the time a true, solvable skunk problem does not exist.

So what, to us, constitutes a real skunk problem? We believe that a skunk, especially a female with a den on your property is an issue. A female with a maternal den means lots of suitors coming to call through the next few weeks and the possibility of a bunch of baby skunks around in a few months.

Here is a video Ryan made at the recent skunk job where ten skunks were captured. As he states in the video- this is a real problem and when he shot the video he was only on number five.

This house has an addition in the back that is on a slab (which means there is no basement). The skunks had burrowed under at two different spots and apparently have quite the communal winter den there. No doubt they were having lots of visitors over as well.

So how can you tell if the skunk problem is real? We suggest looking for patterning and visual proof.

If you’ve seen skunks, we suggest you retreat into the warmth of the house and watch them. See where they go. Then watch for a few days, around the same time, and see if they are visible again. When we get more snow, like the last couple of days, see if you can follow tracks.

If you determine you have a resident skunk, don’t hesitate to call us.