Any ideas for skunk deterrent?

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

Just figured out the hard way what is digging under my duck enclosure. All ducks are fine but had been reluctant to go in for the last two nights . Found a ceramic egg I keep in the duck nest eaten in half and an area that had been dug under and into the duck house. Dog found skunk last night at 1 am

so dog has been washed and skunk is nowhere to be found and duck enclosure will be moved and reinforced today. I am sure the skunk will be back and am looking for anything I can put out to deter it. I have a couple young pullets that I worry about - they are locked inside at night in their coop which the skunk cannot get into . Do skunks come out during the day??? OMG my whole house smells like skunk I probably do too

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Most animals urinate to mark their territory, have your son or husband pee around your coop. (you may have to wait until night fall).
We had coyotes around and my husband did this around the outer limits of out backyard, no coyotes in our backyard. My brother had them 4 blocks away, not us after my husband discretely peed around the back yard. Good Luck
This is not a joke, it really works!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

We had a very similar situation some years ago when I lived in Sonoma County. I still remember waking up in the middle of the night thinking the skunk must be under the bed, the smell was so bad!
We tried everything, even PAID for coyote poop from a wild life refuge and spread that around! I think this was a scam, as why wouldn't dog poop work then? We tried spreading hot pepper powder around the outside of the house. Nothing worked honestly. Even asked the humane society to see if they could trap and release the skunks somewhere else. They offered to trap them and release them somewhere else on our own property, which made no sense. The skunks finally left on their own after mating season was over.

 

[LaFleche]

Hot wire is your friend, not matter what kind of predators.

 

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

Finally my two boys and my husband have an excuse to pee outside! Definitely will try that. Wondering how to facilitate hot wire without harming the ducks and chickens?

 

[CaroleW]

I used to have some contact info from a skunk removal expert (in Illinois I think) looking for that for you. In mean time here's some info... https://www.havahart.com/how-to-get-rid-of-skunks

EDIT -- He is actually a deskunk expert --here is his website https://skunkmasters.com/contact -- I talked to him on phone when I had major skunk issues...very knowledgable and informative guy.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Finally my two boys and my husband have an excuse to pee outside! Definitely will try that. Wondering how to facilitate hot wire without harming the ducks and chickens?

Don't pee on the hot wire.

 

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

That link is very helpful- thank you so much. After reading everything I am worried I will wake up to injured or killed ducks before all the necessary work is done. I am moving the 4 ducks to my tortoise enclosure at night. It is predator proof with a 10 x 10 chain link enclosure that extends into the ground and is anchored underground as well. the tortoises are in their underground burrow so they won’t mind.

It seems like it may be a mama skunk so if she has babies somewhere I am worried she may be around for a few more months. Better safe than sorry- then I can work on all the other skunk deterrents now so I can move them back after fall. This will give us time to build a second predator proof 10 x 10 enclosure for the ducks at night. Pretty sure the chickens don’t want the ducks to move in with them.
thank you everyone for all your help- fingers crossed I can keep the dog from getting sprayed again

 

[Petaluma Petting Zoo]

I used to have some contact info from a skunk removal expert (in Illinois I think) looking for that for you. In mean time here's some info... https://www.havahart.com/how-to-get-rid-of-skunks

EDIT -- He is actually a deskunk expert --here is his website https://skunkmasters.com/contact -- I talked to him on phone when I had major skunk issues...very knowledgable and informative guy.

I will give him a call- thank you !!!’

 

[CaroleW]

Finally my two boys and my husband have an excuse to pee outside! Definitely will try that. Wondering how to facilitate hot wire without harming the ducks and chickens?

Also consider Premier One electric poultry netting. See YT Justin Rhodes or Sow the Land channel (many other channels too) for many examples of how he sets it up for his pastured birds. They also have electric netting for other species. www.premier1supplies.com/


Think of different strategies for electric netting or hot wire...are you primarily concerned with keeping something IN or something OUT. You could have a fence or enclosure combined with a wire or netting either inside it or outside of it depending on your livestock behavior or the predator behavior you are trying to deter.