| Author | Message | |||
     Nancyjay Citizen Username: Nancyjay Post Number: 19 Registered: 2-2006 |
We live on Grove Park just off South Orange Ave. and lately have been experiencing a particularly pungent skunk scent through our front windows in the wee hours. It is intense, not just from nearby, but close, and it generally disappears by dawn. Our trash container seals tightly (no signs of 'tampering') and doesn't emit bad odor that we are aware of. Has anyone else been having the same experience, and/or does anyone have any ideas how to keep the cuddly little bugger(s) away, assuming it is a skunk? | |||
| Pdg Citizen Username: Pdg Post Number: 1191 Registered: 5-2004  |
The only thing you really can do in to ensure that your lawn is grub-free. That is what they are digging for - you'll know you have grubs by brown circles that get wider in the grass, and/or random dug-up bits of grass which is digging by skunks. (Grub-free = put down a grub killer which can be found at any garden supply and/or put down applications of a natural grub-killer called Milky Spore, which has to be put down twice yearly for 3 years before you have built up a ~20 year natural cure for grubs.) It is possible the skunks are living under a porch or deck - check those areas, but I doubt it since you only have odors in the very early morning. Last, you likely live along a pathway that neighborhood skunks use to go to and from their foraging grounds. Oh well, chalk it up to living in the suburbs and be glad it's not bears. | |||
| Mommasan Citizen Username: Mommasan Post Number: 45 Registered: 6-2004 |
stupid question but...what is a grub? | |||
| Lizziecat Citizen Username: Lizziecat Post Number: 1374 Registered: 5-2003 |
Last night we had skunk odor so strong that it woke us both up. All of the windows were open because it was such a lovely cool night. Tonight the AC is on and the windows are closed, so if Pepe Lepew comes around again we won't smell him. | |||
| Pdg Citizen Username: Pdg Post Number: 1193 Registered: 5-2004 |
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/turf/t_ subtropicus01.jpg&imgrefurl=http://creatures.ifas.ufl.edu/orn/turf/t_subtropicus 01.htm&h=271&w=400&sz=16&hl=en&start=82&tbnid=9mrT9iMdnrKbMM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=124&p rev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrub%26start%3D80%26ndsp%3D20%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%2 6rls%3DGGLG,GGLG:2005-27,GGLG:en%26sa%3DN Try the above link. I tried to copy a picture of a grub into this message, but I can't get it to show a picture. Anyway, do a Google search for "grub" and then click on Images (instead of just hitting the general search, check above the description box where it says "News, Web, Maps" etc. | |||
| Pdg Citizen Username: Pdg Post Number: 1194 Registered: 5-2004 |
Sorry Lizziecat, if Pepe comes around anywhere near your outdoor unit (is it called a compressor?) you will indeedy smell Monsieur. (Been there, smelled that!) It is much better than windows open, but w/AC on I've been wakened to the fine eau de moufette!  | |||
| cmontyburns Citizen Username: Cmontyburns Post Number: 1957 Registered: 12-2003  |
I also live in Montrose, and have experienced the great skunk-out over the last few days. Ugh. | |||
| noracoombs Citizen Username: Noracoombs Post Number: 166 Registered: 8-2002 |
Seton Hall neighborhood heard from--the stink is over here, too! The odor was so bad on Friday night, we had to close all the windows on the first floor--in front and in back of the house. We do get skunks from time to time--the intensity of the odor was what was unusual. | |||
| Jersey_Boy Citizen Username: Jersey_boy Post Number: 1615 Registered: 1-2006  |
I thought skunks only spray their stink when they're in fight or flight mode. Or run over, mowed. Am I wrong? I've been camping when we all sat perfectly still to not arouse a skunk, and the thing loped by with nary a smell. Also, there's a saying that only dogs and drunks get sprayed by skunks. Could this apply in Grove Park? J.B. | |||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave  Post Number: 10493 Registered: 4-1997  |
When they do spray it can last for days, even weeks, depending on humidity, temperature and rainfall. | |||
| Jersey_Boy Citizen Username: Jersey_boy Post Number: 1621 Registered: 1-2006 |
And drunkeness. Or doginess, as it were. J.B. | |||
| SO Ref Citizen Username: So_refugee Post Number: 2092 Registered: 2-2005  |
The smell of the red fox is almost identical to that of the skunk... | |||
| Jersey_Boy Citizen Username: Jersey_boy Post Number: 1626 Registered: 1-2006 |
You've smelled this?  If only it were possible, or that simple... J.B. | |||
| SO Ref Citizen Username: So_refugee Post Number: 2093 Registered: 2-2005 |
You're not in the Virtual Cafe JB  | |||
| Dave Supporter Username: Dave Post Number: 10497 Registered: 4-1997 |
I reckon the correct nomenclature down south is pole cats. But why? | |||
| Lizziecat Citizen Username: Lizziecat Post Number: 1375 Registered: 5-2003 |
We don't have central air, pdg. We have window AC, and the windows are too high up for skunks to reach. I hope. | |||
| SOrising Citizen Username: Sorising Post Number: 641 Registered: 2-2006 |
Good point, SO Ref. Foxes are incredibly odiferous. So, could be a skunk or fox or more than one of them. Please don't poison them anyone. | |||
| mjc Citizen Username: Mjc Post Number: 1277 Registered: 10-2004 |
Montrose School area, been smelling them here, too, but not that strong. Yes, it's the burbs, and a particularly nice burb with plenty of landscaping and even some "natural" areas here by the stream. | |||
| Amateur Night Citizen Username: Deborahg Post Number: 1941 Registered: 5-2001  |
There is a big skunk who spends a lot of time sitting on my front lawn. I live in fear that someone or something will menace him. So far no spray. I have smelled skunk down near SO Middle School, though. (I live off Melrose) | |||
| red_alert Citizen Username: Red_alert Post Number: 321 Registered: 3-2005 |
Or is it emanating from Village Hall? | |||
| Dufus Citizen Username: Dufus Post Number: 3 Registered: 8-2006 |
Did someone leave body-filled suitcases in the reservation again? | |||
| Tom Reingold Supporter Username: Noglider Post Number: 15355 Registered: 1-2003  |
They also stink after being squashed by cars. This happens most often in February, I've noticed. | |||
| joel dranove Citizen Username: Jdranove Post Number: 899 Registered: 1-2006 |
Just met a skunk, on Harrison Court, a nice black skunk with white stripes on each side of its body. The skunk was a little skittish, and walked away, calmly. It is browsing behind a house on Irving Avenue now. So cute. jd | |||
| dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1960 Registered: 5-2001 |
I saw one on my lawn last night. I think he's found a home beneath my house. | |||
| joel dranove Citizen Username: Jdranove Post Number: 903 Registered: 1-2006 |
Is there a town skunk displacement officer? jd | |||
| dave23 Citizen Username: Dave23 Post Number: 1964 Registered: 5-2001 |
Buckingham Pest Control said that they stay in a place for a few days then move on. Hope they're right. | |||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 1591 Registered: 2-2006  |
Well my dog got skunked last week right in front of my front door and the smell is still there. Saturated the poor dog from head to toe in "Natures Miracle" Skunk remover and thinking I should buy a gallon and spray the fence gate and the surrounding area. Since the humidity kicked in it has smelled horrible again. Any suggestions? | |||
| Chicken_legs Citizen Username: Chicken_legs Post Number: 43 Registered: 1-2006  |
Just saw a skunk cross the road on Berkeley. WATCH OUT!!!! | |||
| Pdg Citizen Username: Pdg Post Number: 1223 Registered: 5-2004 |
At 1:15 am I was awakened by MAJOR skunk odor! (Central AC, so no windows were open.) I don't know if my neighborhood has a name, but it is over a mile from Montrose, close to Maplewood border and near S.Mountain School. The stink kept me up for at least an hour! Maybe Montrose succeeded in sending their skunks packing. | |||
| joel dranove Citizen Username: Jdranove Post Number: 915 Registered: 1-2006 |
One was DOA on N. Ridgewood, just in West Orange, this weekend. jd | |||
| Nancyjay Citizen Username: Nancyjay Post Number: 21 Registered: 2-2006 |
We're new here---hadn't actually seen the little stinkers yet, just smelled 'em. Guess we'll need to learn to live with our stinky animal neighbors ;-) tx for all the posts! | |||
| WordGirl Citizen Username: Wordgirl Post Number: 27 Registered: 2-2004 |
We live near Montrose School, like mjc, and get the smell periodically in the wee hours of the morning. It's so strong that it wakes me up out of a sound sleep. The first time it happened, we thought we had a gas leak and called the fire department. They came over, established that we had no gas leak, and then told us that they thought it smelled like skunk. I find it hard to believe that so much of the village could be affected by what I presume are only a couple of animals. Sometimes I get a faint whiff from my kitchen sink drain that reminds me of the early morning "skunk" smell. Does anyone think that it could be a different problem entirely -- maybe something emanating from our sewer system? | |||
| Lizziecat Citizen Username: Lizziecat Post Number: 1407 Registered: 5-2003 |
There are a lot more than "only a couple" of skunks. Skunks are wild animals and are ubiquitous in the suburbs. I'm sure that nearly every property has at least one family of skunks. I know that I have skunks, in addition to raccoons, possums, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, bats, mice and deer. Some people have seen foxes and coyotes. Not to mention the numerous varieties of birds that we see here. The animals and birds were here long before we were, and I think it's good that they have found a way to coexist with us. Except for maybe the deer, who just ate three pots of my impatiens. | |||
| joel dranove Citizen Username: Jdranove Post Number: 1005 Registered: 1-2006 |
Eat the deer; even the score. jd | |||
| Bajou Citizen Username: Bajou Post Number: 1769 Registered: 2-2006 |
Reh Ruecken mit Preiselbeeren Deer Rump with Cranberries....it's delicious | |||
| Soda Supporter Username: Soda Post Number: 4189 Registered: 5-2001  |
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