stinking skunks are ruining my life!
 

We've had a family of them move in under our deck. Our old habit was to take the crew out to the back yard several times of day for potty and run. It's fenced in, so they had the run of the yard.

But a lovely family of skunks found a way in and have remodeled a tiny house under our deck. Fortunately, none of them have gone off yet. But our lives have been totally transformed, not in a good way. We have blocked off the part of our deck that connects to the house. During dusk and dawn this is all the pups have access to for potty. Anna and Willie are doing ok. Barney, however, is not. He needs to poop in the mornings and he will only poop in grass. I can't take him to the grass until the sun is out because those pesky skunks are out there. Grrrrrr.

It is another hour until day light and he is crying and licking my hand (his I gotta poop right now signal).

Can you block off the skunks entrance. Also can you enclose the underside of your deck with chicken wire, this will prevent them from getting under your deck. I was told putting moth balls where skunks live will keep them out of that area.
I had the same issue, skunks found a way into my yard. I found where they were entering. I waited until dusk when I was sure they would be out from under the deck, I blocked their entrance with a cinder block, then I enclosed the bottom part of my deck with chicken wire, my deck is 3 feet off the ground,NO MORE SKUNKS.
When I had my summer home I had a deck that was a few inches off the ground, I had a family living under it, they would send off little warning puffs of phew you's when the dogs would track them, again I waited until dusk, threw a hand full of moth balls under the deck at their point of entrance, then blocked the entrance with a couple of bricks, it worked for me. Some years back while walking 2 of my babies off leash at a camp ground my older pup took off, I though it was a cat that she saw lol, when I caught her OMG, not a cat, skunk, she got sprayed in her face, the smell can take your breath away, I soaked her in tomato juice, the next day I took her to a groomer who used a special shampoo for skunk odor, the smell was 100% better, but, she had a slight smell around her eyes for months until that hair was long enough to be cut off. Do be careful, you never want one of your babies to get sprayed the smell is unbearable. Good luck.

Ditto. I know in my area there are wildlife control officers that helped us with a racoon issue. They were basically digging holes in our roof and living in it!

Joan, we are in the middle of a lengthy deck remodel. So, part of it is open and not sure we will ever be able to completely block it off because our pool pump is under it.

As for "relocating" that's not really an option. There isn't an animal control. I live in a town of less than 1000. So, we deal with our own animal control.

My husband sprayed the ground under the deck with some sort of animal repellent. Hubs plans to take boards off lower part of deck and fill the hole they have dug with concrete. Hopefully we will take away their den.

The problem is that our neighbor has 15 acres that connect to our yard and he has allowed it to all grow up in brush.

After DH cements that hole, do check daily for another entrance. Hopefully the animal repellent will deter them from coming back. Good luck.

Fencing
 

What type of fence do you have & are the skunks digging under ?

We have a mix of chain link and wood. The lowest part of deck opens to backyard. Tiny little spot. Think that's how they got in. Will definitely block it off when we fill in hole.

Asking because I used to have a skunk problem too but no more. I too have wood & chain link. For the whole yard I buried those scalloped border bricks all along the bottom of the fence line, now when the skunks try to dig under my fence they tire out & give up. For the chain link I bought those rippled plastic panels & turned them longways & drilled holes in them & attached them to chain link. This prevents my dogs from getting sprayed through the fence.

That's a great idea. Barney actually got sprayed through the fence last winter. I'll have to tell my hubs.

It does work great & does not look bad at all. I used the clear panels & I use zip ties to attach the plastic to the fence. Every now & then I do have to go on the outside of the fence with my 409 & clean off the spots that the skunks have sprayed trying to spray my pups. So yes it works great & no more midnight baths to remove skunk spray from 5 dogs.