How to Get Rid of a Skunk Under a Deck Without Being Sprayed

Skunks under a deck leave on their own if you make the space unpleasant. The one-way door method, the timing that avoids trapping kits, and warning signs.

By Zakaria September 21, 2026 5 min read Save to Pinterest

A striped skunk standing in long grass among dandelions, its white back stripe clearly visible — Photo: Ryan Hodnett, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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A skunk under a deck is an eviction problem, not a removal problem. Make the space dark, quiet and undisturbed — which is what it wanted — into none of those things, and it leaves by itself.

The short answer

Skunks den under decks because the space is dark, quiet and undisturbed. Evict rather than remove: a bright work light in the space, a radio playing nearby, and ammonia-soaked rags or used cat litter near the entrance usually move one within a few nights. Between April and August assume kits are present and check before blocking anything, since blocking an entrance seals them in. Confirm the space is empty with the newspaper test over two or three nights, then skirt the deck with half-inch hardware cloth buried twelve inches deep with the bottom bent outward. Skunks warn before spraying — stamping, raised tail, hissing — so back away slowly.

Evict, do not trap. Light, noise, smell — then exclusion
April to August: assume kits. Check before blocking anything
Newspaper test, two or three nights, before you close anything
Half-inch hardware cloth, 12 in deep, bottom bent outward
They warn first. Stamping and a raised tail mean back away

Confirm it is a skunk

Who is under there

Sign	Animal
Faint musk smell, even with no spraying	Skunk
3–4 in entry hole, dug, close to a wall	Skunk
Cone-shaped divots in the lawn overnight	Skunk (grubbing)
Five-toed prints, front feet with long claws	Skunk
Larger hole, hand-like prints, tipped bins	Raccoon
Clean shallow scrape, pellet droppings	Rabbit
Large mounds, very large hole	Groundhog

A faint background musk with no spraying event is the clearest skunk signal there is. They leave it on everything.

Check for kits first

April to August, assume there are young

Kits are born in May and June across most of North America and stay in the den around two months.

Block an entrance in that window and you seal them in to die under your deck, and the mother digs new holes trying to reach them. Both outcomes are worse than waiting.

The newspaper test, before anything else:

Stuff every opening loosely with crumpled newspaper in the evening
Pushed out by morning — something is still living there
Undisturbed for two or three consecutive nights — the space is empty

Do this even if you have watched an adult leave. You are checking for the ones that cannot.

Evicting an adult

Skunks chose the spot because it is dark, quiet and undisturbed. Remove all three:

Bright work light shone into the space, left on overnight
A radio nearby, tuned to talk radio rather than music — human voices work better
Ammonia-soaked rags in an open container, or a bag of used cat litter, near the entrance. Not sealed in, and not so much that the animal cannot get past it to leave
Open the space up — clear stored wood, clutter and leaf litter from underneath
Give it several nights. Skunks are habit animals and do not bolt on the first evening

Leave the exit clear

Every one of these makes the den unpleasant. None of them should block the way out.

An animal that cannot leave does not leave — it digs, or it stays and has kits where you cannot reach it.

Not being sprayed

Skunks warn repeatedly before spraying, and almost everyone who gets sprayed missed the warnings or surprised an animal at close range.

The sequence:

Foot stamping — the first warning
Raised tail
Hissing and a short charge
Tail fully up, body turned in a U — the last moment to be somewhere else

How not to get there:

Move slowly. Skunks have poor eyesight and startle easily
Approach from upwind, and keep your distance
Never corner one, and never block its only exit while standing beside it
Work at dusk or dawn when you can see whether it is home, not in full dark
Keep dogs inside. Dogs get sprayed far more often than people do

The permanent fix

Skirting specification

	Right	Wrong
Material	½ in galvanised hardware cloth	Chicken wire, lattice alone
Depth	Buried 12 in	Sat on the surface
Bottom	Bent outward 12 in in an L	Straight down
Top	Fixed to the deck framing	Left with a gap
Coverage	Whole perimeter	The visible hole only

The outward apron is what does the work. A skunk digs at the barrier, hits horizontal mesh, and stops.

Leave one opening with a one-way door if there is any doubt at all, and close it after a week of no activity. It removes the guesswork entirely.

Removing the reason

Skunks came for food as much as shelter:

Grubs in the lawn. The cone-shaped overnight divots are skunks digging for them — and a grub problem you did not know you had
Pet food left outside, and pet bowls on a porch
Spilled birdseed under feeders
Unsecured bins and open compost
Fallen fruit under trees
Gaps under sheds, porches and steps — proof those at the same time, or you have simply moved the problem

Rabies

Skunks are a rabies reservoir in North America, which is the reason for genuine caution rather than mild caution.

Report to animal control rather than approach:

Active in broad daylight, repeatedly
Moving unsteadily, circling, partially paralysed
Unafraid, approaching people
Drooling, or behaving strangely

Any bite or scratch needs immediate medical advice. Keep pets vaccinated — that vaccination is the main thing standing between wildlife rabies and a household.

Do not trap and relocate

Illegal in many states, and a poor outcome everywhere:

Spreads disease into new populations
A relocated skunk in unfamiliar territory usually dies
Risks a spraying, and a trapped skunk in a cage is a difficult problem to then solve
Catches the wrong animal regularly — cats especially
Does nothing about the space, so the next skunk moves in

Eviction plus exclusion resolves it permanently, and costs less than the trap.

Common questions

How do I get a skunk out from under my deck?

Make the space unpleasant rather than trying to remove the animal. Skunks want somewhere dark, quiet and undisturbed, so a bright work light shone into the space, a radio playing talk radio nearby, and rags soaked in ammonia or a bag of used cat litter pushed near the entrance will usually persuade one to leave within a few nights. Once you are certain the space is empty — confirmed with the newspaper test over two or three nights — skirt the deck with buried hardware cloth so nothing can return.

How do I know if there are baby skunks under the deck?

Assume there are between roughly April and August, and check before blocking anything. Kits are born in May and June in most of North America and stay in the den for around two months, so blocking an entrance during that window seals them in to die and leaves a frantic mother digging new holes. Loosely pack every opening with newspaper in the evening and check each morning for two or three consecutive nights — undisturbed packing means the space is genuinely empty.

How do I avoid being sprayed?

Move slowly, keep your distance, and read the warnings, because a skunk gives several before it sprays. Foot stamping, a raised tail, hissing and a short charge all come first, and backing away slowly at any of them ends the encounter. Skunks have poor eyesight and are startled easily, so approach the deck from upwind, never corner one, and never block its only exit while you are standing next to it. Most people who get sprayed did so after surprising an animal at close range.

What keeps skunks from coming back under a deck?

Half-inch galvanised hardware cloth skirted around the whole perimeter, buried at least twelve inches deep with the bottom twelve inches bent outward in an L away from the deck. Skunks dig well but give up when they hit a horizontal apron. Fix the top edge to the deck framing so there is no gap, and remove what attracted them in the first place: pet food left out, spilled birdseed, unsecured bins, fallen fruit and, most of all, grubs in a poorly kept lawn.

Are skunks under a deck dangerous?

Mostly they are a smell problem rather than a danger, but skunks are a rabies reservoir species in North America, which is the reason for real caution. A skunk that is active in broad daylight, moving unsteadily, unafraid of people or behaving oddly should be reported to animal control rather than approached, and any bite or scratch needs immediate medical advice. Keep pets vaccinated and keep dogs away from the deck while a skunk is denning there.

Should I trap and relocate a skunk?

No, and in many states it is illegal. Relocating wildlife spreads disease, is usually prohibited without a permit, and a skunk dropped into unfamiliar territory generally dies. Trapping also risks a spraying, risks catching the wrong animal, and does nothing about the open space under the deck that the next skunk will find. Eviction by making the space unpleasant, followed by permanent exclusion, resolves it properly and costs less than a trap.

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