How do I prevent it?

Pick up pet food at night
Cover garbage cans tightly
Keep fallen fruit picked up
Cover woodpiles to keep animals out
Seal any and all entrances or openings in porches, foundations, and outside stairways. Make sure foundation vents are secure.
Do not leave garage or sheds open at night
Put twenty-four inch wide sheet metal around fruit tree trunks to discourage climbing.
Initiate an insect control program. Controlling their prey will also help you control them.
Repellants can be helpful. However, they are just a temporary solution. Rain or heavy dew quickly washes most repellents away.
Protect poultry and rabbits by keeping the bird or animal area well secured at night. There are many night predators. Trapping is not a solution to this problem as removing one predator the area for another.
For Skunks: A three foot high wire mesh fence, extended six inches beneath the ground surface, will keep skunks out of the yard. Spotted skunks may scale this fence once in a while, but this type of activity is rare. To deter these climbing, agile skunks, erect the fence at an angle.
For Opossums: Bird netting can be purchased at hardware and garden departments to cover fruit and vegetable gardens.
Humane trapping is another temporary solution. In some areas skunks are protected by law because they are furbearers. Before you would pursue a trapping alternative, check the laws in your area.

We hope this information will help you to find ways of co-existing with various species of our backyard wildlife.

For more information call Native Animal Rescue at 831-462-0726.