Tips & Tricks to Get Rid of That Skunk Smell Under Your Porch

Striped Skunk in Natural Habitat

Skunks have a bad rap and rightly so – they aren’t the cutsie little creatures portrayed in Over the Hedge and other Disney films. The black and white stripe sends a message of warning.

How to Determine if a Skunk is Living on Your Property

Skunks may start out by searching a property for food or shelter. They may choose to burrow under porches, patio and sheds to make a den protected from predators. The first indication that skunks are in your yard may be digging in these areas. You may also see the skunk enter and exit the den. However, the most prominent and recognized sign is the odor of a skunk’s musk.

Understanding Why Skunks Spray on Your Property

Sometimes a skunk will release a small amount of musk to mark its territory. This typically does not create the overwhelming scent caused by a full defensive skunk spray that is released when a skunk feels threatened. A skunk will also release its musk during decomposition and this can be cause for concern if a skunk dies under your porch, patio or shed.

What You Can Do When Skunks Spray

When a skunk’s musk is released under a porch or patio, the soil may absorb the musk and retain the smell for long periods of time. Often the affected soil needs to be removed to mitigate the skunk spray. In some cases, the porch or patio itself may need removed to grant assess to the affected soil and/or dead skunk.

IF you do experience a skunk spray, here are two quick tips that can help the smell while you wait for full mitigation.

  1. Apple cider vinegar warmed in a crockpot can help dissipate the smell of skunk spray inside your home.
  2. A baking soda, peroxide, and dish soap solution can be applied to the soil to help dissipate the smell of skunk spray.

How Wildlife Professionals Can Mitigate Skunk Smell

We recently assisted a homeowner who had a skunk die under the front porch. It caused odor contamination of the basement and the soil under the front porch. The concrete had to be removed so that the dirt could be excavated.

First we supported the porch and protected the area around the porch in prep for demolition.

Front Porch Prepped for Demolition to Remove Dead Skunk and Contaminated Soil

Next we excavated the porch and removed the soil contaminated with Skunk spray.

Wildlife Pro Using Concrete saw to Cut out Concrete to Assess Dead Skunk Wildlife Tech Using Excavator to Remove Concrete to Access Dead Skunk & Contaminated Soil Wildlife Professionals Using Equipment to Remove Concrete to Access Dead Skunk & Contaminated Soil

After that removal process was complete we were able to reinstall the porch with a rat wall so that animals could not borrow under in the future.

Front Porch forms ready for concrete

The finished product left the soil odor free and the homeowner with an excellent porch.

Newly installed front porch with rat wall so that skunks can't burrow

**If your property is dealing with skunks, but the skunk has not sprayed yet, visit our SKUNK REMOVAL PAGE to learn more about our trapping services.