Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum
ALMOST BEEKEEPING - RELATED TOPICS => FARMING & COUNTRY LIFE => Topic started by: jalentour on June 14, 2016, 10:03:49 pm
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I saw a skunk and her litter leave my front porch deck as I was working the bees the other day. I did see a skunk go into the deck area a day before.
I have a crawl space under my front deck and have had mostly ground hogs to run off since I bought the place. I travel so I am only there 3 days per week. My location is rural, no neighbors within sight and the closest is about 1/2 mile away.
I turned on all the porch lights 24/7 and will install some solar motion lights this weekend. I also put down 10 boxes/pounds of moth balls on top of the deck. Will drill some holes in the floorboards so they drop to the surface this weekend.
Has anyone got any passive ways to run them off. I know I can trap and/or shoot them but there are downsides to both. I don't see poison as an option, yet.
I know skunks are beneficial to the ecosystem and have their place in nature, just not under my deck.
I have installed a gamecam to see if she is eating my bees and so far I have no evidence of it, the hives are 18" off the ground.
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With your bees 18" off the ground she probably will not bother them. The 18"s makes her stomach exposed and the bees know how make her go away.
Jim
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It is poison, but an aspiregg (three aspirin crushed up in a raw egg still in the shell) will get rid of the live skunk. The problem then will be getting rid of the dead skunk that is way back under the porch... Having a dog around usually dissuades skunks...
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Fix the porch where they can't get back under it, then they should leave.
Joe D
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Juuusssst make sure they are out before it is closed up.
:cheesy:
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Be careful. Skunks are a carrier of rabies.
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I wanted to follow up on this post. The moth balls seemed to have done the trick. I have not seen skunks on game cams in quite a long time.
However, the ground hogs have no problem with the scent of moth balls.
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Good to know, thanks.