Have you noticed an uptick in skunk activity lately?  I sure have, and it turns out there's a reason for this!

More Skunk Sightings Than Normal?

Lately, I've noticed an uptick in skunk activity, just last night I opened my back door to let my dogs out, and the smell of skunk spray was thick, so one was nearby (or had been) because the smell was awful! This is the second time in a few days that I've noticed that signature skunk smell, and to be honest, we've lived in our house for several years, and we've never seen (or smelled) a skunk around our home,  so this was weird to happen twice in a matter of a few days.

I seem to not be the only one, for the past few weeks, my mom has been catching a skunk on her security cameras in Newburgh, and just a few weeks ago her dog was actually sprayed by a skunk while outside.  She's never had a skunk issue around her home, so it's weird that both she and I have noticed an uptick in skunk activity in our neighborhoods.  Especially because we live in different counties, so this doesn't seem isolated to just one place in the Tri-State.

Then this morning my cousin Chris texted me with a picture of a skunk caught on his security camera! he has two dogs so he was less than stoked to find one in his yard as well.

None of us have ever noticed skunks around our homes, so the fact that we all three are noticing them more lately can't be a coincidence, right?  I figure other folks must also notice an uptick in skunks around their neighborhoods.

Why Are There More Skunk Sightings Lately?

While I can't find any information on why there seem to be more skunks than usual this year, I found out why we are noticing an uptick in skunk activity now.  According to Indiana DNR, skunks typically mate around February/March and the babies are usually born around May.  The babies stay in the den until they're old enough to leave, typically around 2 months old, and then they stay outside of the den, but follow mama around for a few months.

If many skunks are born around May, that would mean around this time of year they will be leaving the den.  This could potentially explain the uptick in skunks this time of year.   While that explains the number of skunks, I'm not sure why all of a sudden we are noticing them way more than we have in the past.  So if you have any idea, I'd love to know!

How to Keep Skunks Out of Your Yard

Personally, if I didn't have dogs, I wouldn't care too much about skunks being in my yard, as Indiana DNR says they're generally not aggressive and will only spray if they feel cornered or attacked.   However, I'm really not trying to deal with having to bathe my dogs to get the skunk smell off of them and out of my home, so I'd rather skunks not be around my yard (honestly, for their safety, and my dogs' safety too)!

According to Indiana DNR, there are a few things you can do to help keep skunks from coming around your yard:

 Monitoring pets while outside, keeping cats indoors and dog on leashes are critical to preventing unwanted encounters with all wildlife, including striped skunks. Considerations to discourage skunks include:

• Turn on a radio to a talk station and leave it on overnight if you want to discourage a skunk that is living under your porch or hanging around your deck.

• Keep bird feeders and garbage cans in at night. Pick up fallen fruit from fruit trees. Don’t feed pets outside, or clean up uneaten pet food if pets are fed outdoors. Make sure compost is inaccessible.

• Keeping potential den sites closed can be helpful to discourage denning on your property. Block abandoned groundhog holes or fence the bottoms of decks or porches to prevent access by skunks.

• If you find a skunk trapped in a window well, place a rough board in the well that extends to the top and it will climb out on its own.

• If a skunk gets into the house, open a door and calmly allow it to exit. Don’t chase or excite the skunk. Keep pet doors secure at night to prevent wildlife like raccoons, skunks, or opossums from wandering in uninvited.

• Block any access points into sheds, garages, basements or attics so a skunk can’t find a warm place to sleep in buildings.