Skunk Removal Using One Way Doors in Bucksport Maine

We get an awful lot of calls for skunks under the home in Spring here in Maine. Recently we looked at Skunk Removal Using One Way Doors in Bucksport Maine and decided to do a little camera work to talk about the situation.

One way doors for skunk removal in action

One way doors are great because they can allow the skunks to leave the property without the need for trapping and relocating. Not every home is a good candidate for one way doors though. Skunks will try hard to get back under a home if they have been excluded initially.

Think about it this way, you just kicked the skunk out of it’s home. It’s likely been resting under your deck, garage, shed, or home since last fall. Then all of sudden one day it leaves the home through a little meat door and finds itself outside wandering around the yard. Well, that’s all well and good until the skunk decides that it wants to go back under the home and finds that it can’t get in.

This is the point where animals become determined and incentivized. I’ve said this a number of times before, but animals are relatively lazy. Much like us humans. We( the skunks and us, and all animals) really don’t work harder than we have to unless there is compelling and motivating reason to act.

A mother separated from her babies, and animal trapped and starting, being left outside in the elements and having to content with the weather are all examples of extenuating circumstances that would drive animals to work harder than normal.

Typically, one way doors are great in the Spring/summer months when the animals have a higher likelihood of surviving.

One Way Doors vs Trapping and Relocating Skunks

One way doors for skunk removal have both pros and cons. Trapping and relocating skunks have both pros and cons also. Lets looks at the issues here with both.

One Way Door Skunk Removal Pros

-The skunks can leave the home freely and are left in an environment that they are familiar with. For instance, Male skunks may travel up to a mile in 1 night looking for females. That’s a massive area. They know where ever shed, compost pile, wood pile, garden, bird feeder, crazy cat, and junk piles are where they can get food and shelter. One way doors essentially relocate the skunk outside of one residence, but leave them in their home range. This results in less stress and higher survivability.

-Less time, energy, money, and stress for all parties involved including the homeowners, wildlife control technicians, and of course the skunks themselves. For skunk removal using one way doors in Bucksport Maine this time around we found it was a perfect location and situation to both do the best that we can for the skunks as well as save her homeowner some expenses.

One Way Door Removal Cons

-The only way the one way door works, is if the rest of the structure they are living under is fully sealed and excluded. You need the shed, home, porch, deck etc to be completely skunk proof. This may mean extensive construction to permanently seal the structure. However, in the long run this prevents any issues with skunks ever getting back under your building.

-Some times of year can be problematic for the skunks. The absolute dead of winter can be a very hard time on skunks. If they are kicked out of where they are living they have to find a new place to live. Their odds are much better if left in their current home range. However, when temperatures are below freezing, or after a massive 2ft snowfall, the skunks may not be able to gain access to neighborhood sheds, woodpiles, or other nesting spots. During absolute cold spells skunks are relatively inactive and in torpor. A brief warm spell could get them up and moving, and sudden drop in temperatures could put them in a very precarious or deadly position in they find they are unable to get back under the home where they once lived.

Trapping and Relocating Skunks Pros

-Skunks trapped under the home can be positively accounted for. The skunks in Bucksport in the scenario above showed very little outward signs of having lived under the home for very long. Occasionally the homeowners want to know how many skunks are under the home. In other situations, exclusion and permanent fixes are outside the scope or budget of the homeowners means and trapping to remove an individual is the only means of action. (Leaving the skunk alone under the house is also an action, but anyone that has had a skunk spray under the home has never chosen this option, in our experience)

Trapping and Relocating Skunks Cons

-Trapping and removal of skunks can take take. This can result in more costs for the homeowners. The most skunks Maine Wildlife Management has ever taken out from under a home has been 13. All from the same hole under an addition! If you have hired a Wildlife Control company that charges but he animal, this could turn out to be a large bill at the end.

-Relocation of wildlife is hard on the animals. Skunks typically den up for the winter and go into torpor. However, during warm spells starting in January it isn’t uncommon for them to be out and about and active. When relocating skunks they need to be able to find food, water, shelter, as well as compete against other skunks that are fighting for the same resources, and deal with extremes in weather. Not to mention the stress of being trapped in a cage and being in incredibly close proximity to humans. Stress related mortality is not well studied, but we know from humans studies that increased stress beyond a recoverable means often results in a compromised immune system leaving us vulnerable to sickness and degraded health. Now add on being thrown int a foreign land with no food, water, or shelter, in the dead of winter, and you can begin to see how in-humane trapping and relocation can be.

Trapping and relocating skunks is a great tool, but there are times and situations where it is more appropriate than others. One way doors can be great for Skunk removal when the elements are not too harsh, and the structure of the building is secure to prevent future skunks form getting back under the home. For this job, skunk removal using one way doors in Bucksport Maine was the perfect solution.

You can find more information on skunks by checking out the skunk BIO page at Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Skunks: Living with Wildlife