SKUNKS: We promised our readers advice on what to do if you encounter a skunk, especially one that is visiting your property.
Travis Lau, communications director for the Pennsylvania Game Commission, was kind enough to help.
“With skunks, there are some specific issues for people experiencing problems,” Travis writes. “In Pennsylvania, all wildlife generally is protected. It can’t be killed unless taken lawfully during established hunting or trapping seasons, or unless some exception expressed in the law is met.”
“Protection is removed from wildlife that is causing damage to property, so property owners in many cases can kill nuisance wildlife. However, I always recommend people call a Game Commission region office first to discuss their problem and make sure they are authorized to take nuisance wildlife before they attempt to do so.”
Our area is covered by Pennsylvania Game Commission’s Northcentral Region, which encompases 10 counties including Cameron, Elk, McKean and Potter, can be reached by phone at 570-398-4744 or 570-398-4745, or by email at pgc-ncregion@pa.gov.
“Homeowners experiencing problems also can contact a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator,” said Travis. “They can take care of most problems, though they charge for their services.”
He noted that some homeowners will live-trap animals on their property, and many animals can be relocated.
“But skunks, and other rabies-vector species like raccoons, bats, foxes and coyotes, shouldn’t be relocated because of their heightened risk to spread disease,” Travis said. “That means live trapping could pose a couple of problems — one, the strong possibility of being sprayed and, two, having to release on site, which seems unlikely to get rid of a recurring problem.”
Travis reiterated his advice that homeowners contact their Game Commission region office for advice before trying to solve a skunk problem alone.
“A skunk getting into the trash might not rise to the level of damage that would authorize a homeowner to kill it,” he explained. “Of course, if they contracted with a nuisance wildlife control operator, there would be no need to call the Game Commission; the contractor would take care of it.
“As a general rule, the Game Commission will not perform nuisance control work, with the exception of setting traps for bears at properties where preventative measures like removing food sources have failed to stop problems.”
