Skunks

How to Create a Natural Skunk Repellent

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eHow Home & Garden Editor

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By an eHow Contributor

When a skunk moves into your yard, you want to move out. It thinks it's doing you a service eating grubs in your yard. You think it's wrecking your yard and rightly so. Outside of the unsightly holes and the awful smell, the skunk brings with it fleas to share with your household pets. Here are some easy natural remedies including an age-old skunk repellent. Does this Spark an idea?

1. • 1
     Sprinkle cayenne pepper around the skunk den. The den is usually a 4-inch hole in the ground. Ensure it's being used by sprinkling flour or powder around the entrance and look for tracks in the morning.
   • 2
     Make a batch of the natural age-old hot pepper pest repellent. Boil one chopped yellow onion, one chopped jalapeño pepper, 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper and 2 qts. of water for 20 minutes. Cool this remedy and strain it into a spray bottle to apply every three to five days around your property and the skunk den.
   • Place ammonia-soaked rags near the den entrance. The skunk may leave post haste. Keep in mind this remedy burns the grass near the den.
   • 4
     Insert mothballs in a jar. It's not a natural method, but is very effective if the skunk is stubborn. Poke holes in the metal lid and cover the jar. Place it near the den entrance or where the skunk is holed up near or under your house or other structure.

Tips & Warnings

• To keep track of the skunk's comings and goings, place newspaper in the den entrance. When you wake up some morning and the paper is still in the entrance untouched, fill in the den and celebrate your success.
• Be persistent with the application of these scent-related repellents. Reapplication is important to the success of removing the skunk.
• Cayenne is a popular deterrent to garden pests as well. Use it on its own as a natural remedy or make a batch of the hot pepper pest repellent to apply in your garden.