How Much Does Skunk Removal Cost?

Skunk removal costs $300 to $600, depending on your location and how complex the project is. The national average cost of skunk removal in the U.S. is $450. While skunks don't tend to be aggressive, the smell is dreadful and lingers for days if they spray you. Plus, they can carry and pass on diseases to humans and pets, including rabies. So if you identify a skunk problem, it's time to call in a local wildlife removal company.

Average Cost to Remove a Skunk

Skunk Removal Costs by Project Scope

There's no one-size-fits-all pricing for skunk removal because the number of skunks and the ease of access determines the cost. The size of your property, how many square feet they have to inspect, and how many traps they'll have to lay also impact the cost.

Simple Single Skunk Removal

For a simple job with just one skunk in an accessible top access area like a garage, expect to pay around $300 to $325. This includes the inspection, setting the trap, collecting the trap, and relocating the skunk.

Complex Single Skunk Removal

If you've got a skunk tucked up somewhere fairly inaccessible, such as under your deck, this is a more complex job. Expect to pay up to $450 to have the little critter trapped and relocated in such cases.

Multi-Skunk Removal

When the wildlife technician does their inspection, they may find evidence of a single family of skunks or a large, multi-occupancy den. If that's the case, the job is more complex and time-consuming and requires several traps. The technician may also have to return several times to relocate traps to get all the skunks. With this type of job, expect to pay up to $600.

Dead Skunk Removal Costs

Sometimes skunks get trapped on your property, maybe under your deck, in the garage, basement, attic, or crawl space, and they die. Or perhaps they were old or sick when they arrived and chose your property for their final resting place. Aside from the smell as the creature decomposes, dead skunks are hazardous to you and your pets as they can spread disease.

So, it's essential that you hire a pest control service to remove the carcass ASAP. Don't attempt this yourself; you don't know why the skunk died and could catch and spread a severe disease if you come into contact with the animal's remains. Call a pro to remove the carcass as they know how to handle it safely and dispose of it and neutralize the area.

To remove a dead skunk, expect to pay $150 to $250. It costs less to remove a dead skunk than a live one because the process is faster, there's no long inspection to identify points of ingress, and there's no need to set traps or relocate a live animal.

Emergency Skunk Removal Cost

If you've got a skunk on your property that looks sick or you're concerned it may carry rabies, you need emergency skunk removal. Keep all humans and pets away from the area and call out a pro right away. Similarly, if you’ve trapped a skunk and it’s become defensive—as most wild creatures will if cornered—don't get close. Instead, make an emergency call to a local wildlife control and removal expert and let them handle it.

Often, if it's during regular office hours, pest removal services won't charge any extra. However, if it's outside of regular hours, on holidays, or on weekends, you'll likely pay an extra fee between $75 and $100. Therefore, in an out-of-hours emergency, you'll likely pay between $375 and $700.

Skunk Removal Cost Factors

Removing the skunk is only half the battle at best. You'll also need to budget for other things, such as repairing any damage the critters caused and preventing a new family of skunks from moving in. You may also need to sanitize the areas they frequented to avoid the risk of disease.

Repairing Damage Caused by Skunks

Mostly, skunks don't cause excessive damage. They might dig up patches of your lawn as they hunt for grubs, in which case you may want to hire a lawn repair company to give your grass a little TLC. But if you catch the incursion quickly enough, that should be the extent of the damage.

However, if left to enjoy free rein on your property, skunks can cause significant damage. Eating holes in your siding to get underneath your property or into the crawl space is annoying but reasonably affordable to fix. However, if they burrow under your home and create a big enough warren of burrows, they can cause pricey and significant foundation problems. Hence the faster you find and remove the skunks, the better off you'll be.

Preventing Skunks From Returning

Once you've gotten rid of your immediate skunk problem, you need to stop them coming back. You can hire a local handyperson to install metal barriers around your porch or deck and block up any obvious holes in fences and walls where the critters found their way inside. Don't skip this step, or you'll just end up with another skunk or, in the worst case, a whole surfeit of skunks moving in.

Sanitizing

If you think there's any chance the skunk you had removed was sick, it's important to sanitize any areas the skunk hung out, particularly nesting and feeding areas. In many cases, the pest control company will also disinfect the area anyway, especially if they removed a sick or dead skunk.

DIY vs. Hiring a Skunk Removal Pro

Trapping and removing a skunk is not something you should tackle yourself. Because they're major carriers of rabies as well as other diseases, you should steer clear of both live and dead skunks and avoid touching any nesting materials or debris with your bare hands. Instead, hire a local wildlife professional to trap and relocate skunks for the safety of you, your family, and your pets. This is not something you should ever take a chance on.

FAQs

How do exterminators get rid of skunks?

Exterminators get rid of skunks by inspecting the property, finding the most likely places of skunk activity, and setting live traps using appropriate bait. Then they return, take the captured skunks, and relocate them several miles away so they can't return.

How do I deter skunks?

You can deter skunks by installing a motion sensor sprinkler system, using motion sensor lights in the yard, and keeping the yard free of food sources. You can also use an ultrasonic skunk deterrent, but these may upset other pets and wildlife.

Does citrus repel skunks?

Yes, citrus deters skunks. You can place lemon peel around the perimeter of your property to help keep the pests away. However, you'll need to replace them as they dry up and lose their scent.