- 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.
