What to Do If You Get Sprayed by a Skunk on Your Property
Most skunks portray nocturnal behavior and are rarely in sight during the day. However, you can often spot a skunk during the day, especially when it is out of hibernation and foraging for food or during mating season. Skunks might draw near to your home in search of food when there is scarcity within their habitats. Sometimes they may also feel threatened by predators and migrate from their habitat, so there is no competition for food.
Like any other animal, skunks have defense mechanisms that they use during possible attacks by predators. Carnivores typically have anal scent glands, but skunks are the only ones that use their well-developed glands as a defense mechanism. When they feel threatened, skunks will aim their anal scent gland and spray some fluid that has an offensive odor.
Is Skunk Spray Harmful?
Technically, skunk spray is not permanently harmful. However, if the skunk spray gets into your eyes, you may experience irritation and temporary blindness due to the chemical components of the fluid secretion. Skunks spray as their last resort to defense when threatened. Before they spray, skunks will warn of their threats by puffing their fur, stomping, and hissing, as a cat would do.
Skunks rarely want to spray when threatened since it takes up to a week for their body to restore the spray fluid. They accurately spray a distance of about 15 feet and often do not miss their target. The foul smell of skunk spray can last for a month; thus, it’s never a pleasant experience when you get skunked.
What to Do If You Get Sprayed by a Skunk
The first resort to mitigating the issue of getting sprayed by a skunk is to work on the odor. However, if the skank spray gets into your eyes, you might need to rinse your eyes thoroughly with water and if irritation persists, visit a doctor.
Now, onto the smell. A simple wash might not work for an odor that lasts for a month. The most common solution to the skunk smell is usually a mix of readily available items at home. The mixture solution to clean off the skunk smell consists of the following:
- 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide
- 1 teaspoon liquid detergent
- ¼ cup baking soda
You could use the mixture to clean your clothes and even your pet if it got skunk fluid. Air drying your clothes after cleaning with the mixture will also help. The mixture is also approved as humane and will not affect you or your pet in any way.
There are also skunk-odor removers in retail shops, which might help. Anything with neutroleum alpha might help eliminate the odor. If you still get the smell, you can boil vinegar in a pan. The strong smell of vinegar will mask the smell and eventually fade it off.
How to Stay Away from the Skunk-Spray
Keeping skunks away from your property is essential. The skunk spray is not the worst that could happen if the skunk stays near your property. When in search of food, they might cause damage. Consequently, you can rely on the help of professionals to safely evacuate the skunks from your property to a safer place.
Shumaker’s Animal Control can effectively handle all your skunk problems in Maryland. Our highly qualified team can humanely trap and remove the skunks and relocate them to a safe animal environment.
To get in touch with us, visit our website to check our services and fill out our contact form. You can also call us at 443-854-8072 for more information.