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Besides that they stink I mean. The one must hae last two mornings it has smelled like skunk very strongly in our back yard. At first I thought one must have gtten hit down in the road, but no bodies and it doesn’t smell in the front. Neither of the dogs have gotten sprayed and we haven’t seen any signs of skunky activity.
Do the skunks themselves stink or only when they spray? It’s possible that one sprayed out in the back woods and the scent only returned when it got damp and the wind calmed down last night, but I don’t know if it works that way.
asinnamon wrote:Besides that they stink I mean. The one must hae last two mornings it has smelled like skunk very strongly in our back yard. At first I thought one must have gtten hit down in the road, but no bodies and it doesn’t smell in the front. Neither of the dogs have gotten sprayed and we haven’t seen any signs of skunky activity.
Do the skunks themselves stink or only when they spray? It’s possible that one sprayed out in the back woods and the scent only returned when it got damp and the wind calmed down last night, but I don’t know if it works that way.
Skunks do not stink unless they have sprayed and managed to get it on themselves, something they endeavor not to do. In fact, a skunk will give its offender many chances to leave it alone before spraying, since it is something they really don’t want to do.
So most likely what you are smelling is the results of a skunk whose tormentor didn’t get the message when warned and got sprayed somewhere near your yard. The smell should fade in a couple days.
We have skunks show up all the time at my work, I work at a fish hatchery and processing plant, and they love fish. 🙂 Anyway, every once in a while there will be a lingering smell of skunk that lasts for a day or so. My guess is on those occasions one of the pond workers chased one away and it expressed it’s displeasure.
I know they don’t usually smell themselves because one fishing trip we met up with one. It was kinda cool, we were sitting on a kind of island in the stream, and ambling down the path we used to get there comes this adorable and very fluffy skunk. He just ambled along and then faded into the brush, but we were only about 4 feet from him, and he didn’t smell from what we were able to tell. He was very pretty though, glad we were off to the side and not in his way though, very glad.
Keep an eye out, but I would imagine the skunk won’t be back.
Kyrin
asinnamon wrote:Thanks! Thats exactly what I’m hoping happens!! Don’t want my puppies getting stinky!
If they do, tomato juice really does work. I know, my dog Holly accosted a baby skunk once, his mother was hit by a car. Holly wasn’t trying to hurt the baby, but he didn’t know that and was terrified. All Holly did was snuffle him and lick his head, but she was big and he was tiny, so he sprayed her…whoo eee she stunk! This is the same dog that let an infant kitten nurse on her, even though she was spayed and didn’t have milk. It comforted the kitten, so she allowed it. LOL!
Poor thing died from exposure, I found him still alive, but too weak and he died in my hands. Poor baby. I’m still sad about that. If I’d just found him a few hours sooner, I might have been able to save him.
He was very young though, so it’s possible there would have been nothing I could do, but his eyes were open and he was able to walk a bit, so who knows. My friend Amber rescued a golden weasel from the same area that I think was roughly the same age of about 3 weeks old. He lived 3 years with her before he died mysteriously, he was really pretty and very cool.
Anyway, skunks don’t like to spray things, so with luck your dogs won’t get into trouble.
Kyrin
*eeek, as I was sitting here typing a damn Hobo jumped on me and landed on my hand, talk about freaking a little! He is a squished Hobo now!*
Kyrin wrote:asinnamon wrote:Thanks! Thats exactly what I’m hoping happens!! Don’t want my puppies getting stinky!
If they do, tomato juice really does work.
Anyway, skunks don’t like to spray things, so with luck your dogs won’t get into trouble.
I’ve personally have never had luck with tomato juice. It only seems to work if you don’t wash it off. I know that Get the Odor Out, Knok Out, and for some strange reason Crest toothpaste does work, and if they get wet they won’t smell of skunk again.
It’s true that skunks don’t like to spray it’s only a defense that they’ll use if they are threatened. Sadly dogs most of the time will pursue a skunk until it does spray. Most of the time the dog will get sprayed in the face so be prepared to use Q-Tips soaked in whatever you use to get the smell off. You’ll have to swab the nose and around the eyes. Those are the hardest areas to get unskunked.
Romeodanny wrote:Kyrin wrote:asinnamon wrote:Thanks! Thats exactly what I’m hoping happens!! Don’t want my puppies getting stinky!
If they do, tomato juice really does work.
Anyway, skunks don’t like to spray things, so with luck your dogs won’t get into trouble.
I’ve personally have never had luck with tomato juice. It only seems to work if you don’t wash it off. I know that Get the Odor Out, Knok Out, and for some strange reason Crest toothpaste does work, and if they get wet they won’t smell of skunk again.
It’s true that skunks don’t like to spray it’s only a defense that they’ll use if they are threatened. Sadly dogs most of the time will pursue a skunk until it does spray. Most of the time the dog will get sprayed in the face so be prepared to use Q-Tips soaked in whatever you use to get the smell off. You’ll have to swab the nose and around the eyes. Those are the hardest areas to get unskunked.
True. The tomato juice cure requires soaking the dog throughly and leaving it for at least 30 mins before rinsing and washing with shampoo. Then doing it again. Takes a lot of tomato juice.
If that other stuff works better, great…but I’ve discovered either it is hard to find, or is too expensive at the time.
Kyrin
Yea, skunks actually don’t stink themselves, it’s they’re spray. Sounds like one probably got startled nearby your home or something. My dog got sprayed in the face last year, it was pretty awful, but I think his pride was more wounded then anything else. The most memorable part was waking into CVS and asking to by a case of douche! LOL!
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Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry DragonsOur dogs stirred up a skunk once… It sprayed the house and the house smelled for DAYS! Lucky it didn’t get the dogs, tho… But I was trying to find a way to wash it off the side of the house, and on a bunch of websites they recommended a concotion of Dawn soap, hydrogen peroxide and something else, I think, but I can’t remember what…
I know this is going to sound funny, but what really seems to work when a pet gets skunked is ladies feminine douche. I know!!! I thought it was bizarre, but years ago when my parent’s poodle got skunked a lady in the grocery store told my dad that….and it works really well, tomato juice had failed 3 times already so I guess he was pretty desperate….we laughed so hard when he came home with those boxes, but I swear that it gets the smell out, we had to wash Sabrina several times over the years with it before we lost her last year. Sorry to be gross (Sorry Snap) lol, but it does work…hope nobody gets sprayed though!!
We’ve had the best luck with white vinegar of all things.
There are about as many remedies for skunk smell as there are for the common cold. Everyone thinks something else works best! 😉
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My art: featherdust.comAww I love skunks! When I was younger we had a family of skunks that lived under our house. After a while they would come up and take peanut butter and mozzerella cheese right out of our hands 😆 Once we were painting the dining room so the door was open and a bunch of them wandered in the house, we just shooed them out-lol
Skunks have about the most potent smell in the world from an animal. You can smell it within a mile, so it doesn’t actually have to be very close to know one is ‘near’. As said, skunks don’t have an odor themselves. It’s the stuff they secrete from a sac near the base of their tail when they ‘spray’. Only a few drops when they spray are this odor and it does take them time to recharge (they are good for 5-6 sprays max before they need to recharge… and it takes about 10 days, so it is a weapon of last resort, like snakes with their venom). I’ve jumped over a skunk before and nothing happened, except we scared the crap out of each other and ran the other direction (I was running across campus at night and a skunk with almost no white was in the middle of the path… we saw each other at about the time I almost ran into it… jumping was a last minute attempt to avoid running into it! Boy did I get a second wind fast! We looked back, saw each other, and ran again! :lol:). A high school classmate of mine had a skunk as a pet that had no sac (I think it was found abandoned and they bottle fed it… had the sac removed because no one was willing to rehab it.. it would have been put down otherwise). No odor without the sac. Cute little buggers. Sharp teeth and claws (for digging and eating little grubs, mice, lizards, bees, mushrooms, etc.), but very cute.
Tomato juice works. A combination of hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and some dish soap works well too. White vinegar is a third option. My dad has found the second two options work a little better (faster), particularly for long-haired dogs, esp. white ones, but all work pretty well!
Oh, and don’t trap one in a car for it to spray then close the car up for a night. Guaranteed to make the first person to open it severely nauseous instantly). Clears their sinuses too! 😉 My dad says he wouldn’t know anything about this *cough*.
If you run over a carcass, even washing a car multiple times can do little to make the smell go away. You just have to give it time (personal experience… took 2 weeks for the smell to settle out). Very potent. Not enough to make you sick to the stomach… just annoying.
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