# Skunk!



## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

I've got a skunk problem. I noticed my lawn was getting dug up, which I'm not too happy since it's only a week after my scalp. I have a trap that I used for an armadillo last year that was also eating up my yard. From reading tips on skunk trapping, seems like cat food is a good bait.

My biggest concern is the removal part. They say to walk up with a tarp and cover the trap to keep it calm, then you can transport it. I don't want to put it in my SUV and have it possibly spray inside my car, so I might rent a Home Depot truck for that. Anyone have other tips? I want to minimize any chance of getting sprayed.

As for the other part of the problem, the skunk and armadillo were clearly looking for grubs. After my armadillo problem, which was around September, I spread some grub killer I picked up from the big box store. I understand that kills the current grubs of the season. As a preventative, I spread some GrubEx in mid-May that should have given me 4 months of protection this year. Well, I've dug up quite a few grubs already while redoing my garden and tree beds.

Am I doing something wrong or are grubs a yearly battle that can't be completely prevented?


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

I don't know, but I know that the Grub Ex hasn't fixed my grub problem either. Now, I put it down way too late, but you'd think a month later it would be doing something..and yet Mr. Mole is going to town in my yard. 
Putting down another app of 24 Hour Grub Killer Plus today, and going to be spraying imidacloprid soon which is meant to target some other stuff but should also help with grubs. 
I think in my case my soil is so freaking sandy that residual action is a bit of a joke, it may have been washed out of the soil before the plants could absorb it. 
Or these could very well be new grubs that just hatched and will soon die, but not soon enough to prevent moles munching on them.


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## TommyTester (Jul 3, 2018)

Get rid of their food source and they will go elsewhere. Try Spectracide Triazicide For Lawns, watered in. Kills all insects on contact.


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## ktgrok (May 25, 2019)

TommyTester said:


> Get rid of their food source and they will go elsewhere. Try Spectracide Triazicide For Lawns, watered in. Kills all insects on contact.


Doesn't work on grubs though, despite being labeled for them. I think it was Michigan state or some other midwestern school that did the study on it?


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

I've been looking for dylox (trichlorfon). Apparently, all my Lowe's seem to be out of it despite showing 7-10 in stock and none of my closest Home Depot's carry it. I'll just order on Amazon for direct shipping.

The skunk has stepped in my trap twice now to eat the cat food bait I left out, but it's so light-footed that it won't trigger. I ended up catching a raccoon on accident, and it's other three family members came to help it out. I wasn't even aware I had any raccoon activity.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Live beneficial nematodes ... grubs GONE!!!!!

(For Jap Beetle grubs, milky disease spore worked, scratch that, going on 5 years and still working, for us!)


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

So an update. I laid down dylox two weeks ago. Still plenty of skunk and raccoon activity. They seem to be multiplying because I've now seen 4 raccoons and 3 skunks on my surveillance videos. Multiple critters have been caught and relocated, but I don't know how many more I want to deal with. My yard looks like a minefield with all the holes they've dug up. I'm trying to stay positive and consider it a free aeration, but I don't know what else to do to get rid of the problem. I'm going to get some topsoil and fill the holes they dug under the fence to hopefully prevent the skunks from coming back, but they might dig new holes to get back in.


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## greengrass (Sep 9, 2018)

Has anyone tried repellents? Do they work at all? Every morning I wake up to something digging in my reno areas, really starting to piss me off. This morning there was a huge hole right in the middle of my 11 day old kbg.


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## mtroo (Jul 31, 2018)

I generally relocate these critters to a warm cozy hole around 24 inches deep. I believe that skunks rank number 2 on the list for rabies behind bats.


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## DuncanMcDonuts (May 5, 2019)

Repellents don't work from my research. I trapped 2 of 3 skunks, one relocated, another I had to release since I had no time to transport it. I haven't seen much activity lately, I hope they learned their lesson. There haven't been as many holes dug up, but I saw one poke its head underneath the fence as I was taking out the trash.


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