Most skunks under one dwelling?

Hey there. Just took my 8th skunk out from under this house. Blocked two of the four entry/exits and taking them in cages on the other two. Having never taken this many in one location is it possible that a couple of females were in heat and had attracted satellite males when I showed up on scene or is this more common than I thought in wintering sites? I can find no 5th entry/exit and tracks in the snow indicate visitors that come, can't enter and leave.

I'm already giving the homeowner a volume discount but she's at the point of wondering how long this can go on.

Thanks,
HJ

last spring I had 6 under one house....I didn't give them any discount. The owner was just happy they were gone!

It is likely you have a brothel of sorts at the location. Females can draw a good crowd during the breeding season and most likely this has been a familiar gathering place for some years. I have a friend in Kansas that has taken 12+ from under a house/deck in a week or so.If not sealed after trapping the problem can reestablish in another year or so.

Don't know for sure that they were "under" the house. Home owner wanted them gone but not caught under the residence in case they sprayed. All traps set at entrance holes. That number if I recall correctly was 19 skunks and 22 coons.

Top for me is 8 from under one shed. They were all kits. Mother had been shot by a neighbor.

mtncat, We're pretty cheap as ADC guys go, but a catch like that has still got to cost between $2400 and $2700. Good work!

I took 13 from under 1 home. The homeowner said that he was going to do the exclusion work. The following February I took out 7 because he didn't do the work. The following year I took out 4. Haven't heard from him since so I guess he finally did the work.

nuisanceman, I love your post. This happens all the time with every species. This should be a lesson to everyone on here. We all say that we're going to do things that we never do.

After we got the third starling down in our fireplace, my wife threatened to call our competition for a chimney cap. This doesn't just pertain to customers; look in the mirror.

P.S. For those fans that follow my posts, I did install that chimney cap without falling off the roof!

That's so funny...that same term came up in our conversation as I was explaining to the homeowner I suspected multiple females had attracted several males and that's what we were dealing with. We've made arrangements for the exclusion work already so I'm helping her out with the animal fee as the # gets higher and higher. I've actually got males (i suspect) coming into the property from large tracts of surrounding woodland and hanging out at the traps which have caught animals and then going round/round the house trying to find a way in. Hilarious. Can't wait to see the bunker they have built under this residence.

11 This year

8 at one location. First one was a female, the rest have been males. Was in a barn, so I put hay over the hole to see what was going on. Caught the last 2 with out the hole being reopened. Must be mostly out side skunks. Not sure how long this could go on.

I took 22 from under a twenty-four unit apartment building. Two separate dens though.

The property manager called me about "a" skunk at the end of October. We were having a warm spell and I told him that skunks den up together for the winter and instead of my usual service charge and $50/animal I could do a week of trapping for $325. He declined, sure that there was just one.

Twenty-two skunks later I had a nice check and a customer who now believes pretty much anything I tell him.

huntinjunkie, up here, female skunks often have communal dens in the winter. This leads to skunk paradise come breeding season.

It sure seems like a party was happenin before I came along! At this point I'm trying to empty it and close it up for her.

Just something to keep in mind....

Even if you were to perform an immaculate exclusion and fill the den with concrete, skunks will come and check out the spot for years to come. The smell lasts that long. I have trailcam video of skunks checking out a den I filled in four years ago.

It's up to the customer if they want to trap out the ones that come to check out the den. For some it's a no go but some go along with it.

Steve I think you're right. I took 28 skunks from a home at one opening. Of course it was during mating season and the hole was boxed out of the foundation of the house when it was built that was about 6"x6" and for whatever reason was never used. At the same time the house was built the owner at that time had a huge deck built on that side of the house that extended at least 14ft. out from the wall but was only about 12" high. No way could you see that hole until the present home owner removed the first 12" of the deck next to the house. The house was about 12yrs. old and this couple was the second owner and had lived there for about 3yrs. They said they had had a skunk problem every year but never could find the den entrance. This year the smell was so bad his wife told him she was leaving if something wasn't done and thats when he started to tear up his deck and then called us. That cut-out had been used so much over the years that the critters had actually wore down the earth about 3" coming and going through it. I told them that I had no idea how many where under the house and that we probably would catch skunks comming to the hole as well. To which his wife replies "I don't care if they are comming or going just catch every &^%$# skunk from around this house!"
So we did!

The most skunks I got from under one building is 19. It was under a golf shop in the middle of a golf course. When I arrived there were trails in the snow leading to and from the hole as far as the eye could see. I wish I would have had some Comstock traps back then to set as positive sets in all the trails. The most skunks from under a residential building was 14, this house was right across from a cemetary. I am currently set up at a house at the edge of golf course and at this time I am at number 10.

Great stories guys. What do you call a "positive" set? Walkthrough?

i took 14 skunks from under one deck once in springfield, mo...wasn't hard to sell the sealing of that deck

Looks like the record was 28? Amazing. I just did 12 and a possum when the skunks were gone. Most at a location was 15, but in three den holes, one in the field, one by the barn and one under the house. Had caught 8 and after a snow the trails made it look like I hadn't caught any. I usually tell people up front that there may only be a few but 5 to 9 is not uncommon. With skunks people don't tell you stop no matter how many you catch, they don't want any left of course. Love the calls, money in the bank.

Wondering how other people charge for big number, like 8, 10, 12 etc.? I think I'm too low. Orkin gets $400 for a skunk.

$400!? For one? That seems unreasonable. That means some people are paying around 3500, which is more than four months of my rent. After a lot of research, I am starting mu business with a weekly rate. I don't want the customs to be surprisd and left with a sour taste. I also was to be a trapper, not a collections agency. Even at 100 dollars a skunk, that could mean around a grand, and for the average person, they won't be able to do that all at once.

I was charging $100 for up to a week of trapping, but I am not making any money at it unless I catch all animals within a day or two. This year I am going to do some repricing. I also give the customer the option of a per animal fee plus a setup fee.

Per animal with a set up fee. If I have evidence of big #s I'll suprise em with a reduction in per animal after I catch say 3 or 4. Don't get a lot of Coyote and fox but it would def. be weekly rate.

I don't remember ever catching a lot of skunks from underneath one home, but in our best year we must have caught more than one. Or else we had 520 different homes.

I can still smell #10 under the porch....not hungry enough to come out I guess or it's chose to die instead of be trapped.

Now bear in mind that I am saying this as a former member, so this happens to be something that I am familiar with; You will never get more skunks under one dwelling than you will at the National Democratic Convention.

huntinjunkie, skunks can exist for months in their den. They wont die.

It's a very late winter in New England and many skunks are still holed up. But... skunks don't smell unless they spray and during the breeding frenzy they do just that. Once they spray the smell lasts for a very long time. Just because you're smelling skunk doesn't mean there are any left and it doesn't mean there isn't.

At this time of year a skunk den is going to be visited, if not inhabited, over and over.

Trap them out, trap the repeat customers and next month plug the hole and call it good.

I've had access blocked for 2 weeks and just removing the emergers. I can actually hear one moving around under the porch that hasn't gotten caught yet. I think an ice jam may have isolated it in one corner of the deck. Time will tell. Next week we're supposed to have highs in the mid 40's so we'll see.

Ahhh... I see. Gonna have a pretty hungry skunk when it finally gets out. You'll get it, no problem.