inahandbasket | (no subject)

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: work

(no subject)

I don't know what's weirder...
- That I can purchase dehydrated fox urine over the internet.
- That I may soon purchase dehydrated fox urine over the internet.
- That I may have a good reason to purchase dehydrated fox urine over the internet.

ticky-box

Substantive update coming as soon as I can get photos off my camera, maybe late tonight.

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It's a pretty common technique to pee in an area you don't want wild animals to come around, but it generally washes away after the first good solid rain. I would wager this does as well. Out of curiosity, what kind of animals are you trying to keep away from what kind of plant?

... by "animal" we mean skunk.
...by "plant" we mean house.

It's going under the porch, it won't wash away. I'm not looking forward to this.

we may have a skunk living under our back porch, but it hasn't been verified.

And apparently this powdered stuff doesn't wash away like liquid predator pee does, or so the Amazon comments indicate.

Using predatious urine to keep away skunks totally works, I swear.

(Also, I have a really good recipe for washing skunk smell out of a thing/animal if you ever need it.)

If the skunk is currently living under the porch, you might get sprayed while putting the powder under the porch. Since they're nocturnal (unless rabid) they tend to abhor bright light. If you have access to a flood light/work light, place it so that it's shining under the porch. It should abandon the porch relatively fast. If there's not an easy way to flood the area with light, then grab some flour from the house. Sprinkle it around the porch and keep checking it every 20 minutes or so after twilight. Once you see tracks in the flour leading out from under the porch, that would be the time to sprinkle the urine under the porch. You'll probably want to setup lattice, or some other barrier, under the porch to keep it from getting back in. Make sure to bury it since they can dig.

I assume you're smelling skunk and that's what prompted this?

His parents watched one go nest under the porch, but the smell had been noticed before.

Damn, you're good at this! Thanks!!

D - all of the above

But we have a very hungry groundhog in our yard, so if you get it, I'd be interested to hear how it works and how bad (if at all) it smells? A co-worker was spraying wolf urine in her yard to prevent deer from ruining her garden, and while it worked, she said it smelled so awful that they no longer wanted to go outside. I'm hoping the dehydrated form wouldn't be so bad?

No sweat - if none of the above works, let me know. I've had to trap skunks before as well (nonlethally) and I'm reasonably good at doing it without getting myself sprayed.

That's very cool. We've been using a professional humane trapper to move various mammals out from under our porch and hot tub. So far I think we've relocated a couple of skunks, at least one possum, and three large-sized groundhogs.

Good luck with this one!

But doesn't it attract foxes?

I guess that's better than buying wolf urine and attracting wolves.

Another thing that will help, once you get the existing skunk out of there, is making damn sure the area around the porch is closed up good.

Keep in mind too that skunks are generally transient. They make a burrow, stay there for a little while, and then wander off to greener pastures... unless it's a female skunk who is getting ready to give birth. Then you're in trouble. =/

I learned a LOT about skunks when one moved in under my house three years ago and my dogs tried to make friends with it.

Good luck getting rid of yours!

*reads comments*

Ah, nothing like a skunk or two to liven up one's evening. :-) Good luck getting rid of this one.

Oh my.

A friend's dog just got sprayed in the face by a skunk. And was a very very very sad pupster.

I wonder if something like that would work with squirels and chipmunks? I miss being able to have a cat around to keep them under control.

OxyClean works a treat!

really!
just spread it around?

No, no - it's for washing the spray off dogs. Mix up some OxyClean and add some dish soap, use as a shampoo. It really kills the smell.

If I knew a good trick for keeping skunks away, I'd be happy to share it. The big thing is closing off access so they can't live under your house/porch/whatever. You want to do this anyway, otherwise you'll have a constant parade of critters living there - mice, rats, possums, raccoons, skunks, feral cats, every damn vermin imaginable. It can be a chore finding all the little cracks and crevices through which they gain entrance. How old is your house?

As long as the skunks stay away from my house, I'm happy to have them around. They dig out yellowjacket nests, which makes them heroes to me. I really hate yellowjackets.

Ah, we has no dog, so no worries there unless I manage to get sprayed.

Around 100 years old.
It's still pretty much urban, so we don't have to worry about yellowjackets. We'll definitely be doing something about the lovely little alcove under the back porch, but we have more immediate concerns (like moving in to the place) first. hehe!

You should have made this a poll!

I thought about it, that's why there's a ticky-box there. ^_^

Ach, a 100-year-old house can have lots of little places for vermin to get in. Good luck.

It's still pretty much urban, so we don't have to worry about yellowjackets.
Well, they live in town too, but maybe you're lucky.

Congrats on the place, btw. Welcome to the home-owning adventure!

Theoretically we could have a nest of them, but we'd notice before it got large enough to worry about. Pour a little gasoline down there and toss a match, no more yellowjackets.

(at least that's what we always did growing up. ^_^ )

Hm. You're not planning to have children, are you? ;-)

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