Can a skunk climb a fence?

The skunks have long claws and sharp teeth. The long claws are used to dig. Even if the skunk may be nearsighted, they have sharp sense of hearing or smelling. The stripped skunk is not good in climbing but it can climb up the wire mesh, boards or fences but it is not good in climbing of the trees. Their long nails are their handicap when it comes in climbing. However, the spotted skunk is good climber and it can easily climb the trees in matter of minutes.



Even if the skunks are poor climbers, you should keep in mind that they are good diggers. When you raise a fence to keep them out, you should also bury it at a certain distance. The fence has to be bent into the L shape and it should be attached on the top part at the fence or it can be buried at the lower part in the ground. Before you can erect the fence, you should be aware of where the skunks do live. In the urban areas, the skunk may live in the crawl spaces under a deck. You should start by making sure that these places cannot be accessed by the skunk before you decide to use the fence. Remember that skunk breed in spring so if you want to keep the skunk away, you should do it before that time so that you do not evict them when they have babies.

Killing and trapping of the skunks is not the right option and it is not humane option to do things since they may die in the new area where you take them. When you kill a skunk, you are making a room for the new skunk to come. What you should do, is to make sure that your property is inhospitable for the skunk. To deal with the skunk, you should understand the skunk behavior, their territory and their breeding pattern. You should reduce where they can live. You have to secure the crawl spaces or the decks before the breeding period starts. The skunks like to live in the semi-open places which are weedy and grassy fields, pastures and brush land. Normally they live near the water. The stripped skunk likes to live in the underground den in the soil which is well drained. The ideal places for the stripped skunks are in the bordering pastures, the hayfield and the hillsides. Since their natural habitat is getting lost, the skunks have started to live under the out buildings, garages or houses.

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