Skip to content
The Pest Guide logo: an orange ant behind a magnifying glass The PestGuide

Skunks

Stylized illustration of skunks

By The Pest Guide Team · Updated
Edited by Fellipe Antequera · Editorial policy

Picture stepping out onto your back porch at dusk to grab the recycling bin, only to catch a faint, unmistakable whiff of sulfur in the damp air while your porch light catches a stocky, waddling shape slipping beneath the wooden deck stairs. What puts these creatures in one group is not just their membership in the mammalian family Mephitidae, but their shared reliance on a slow, deliberate ground gait, five-toed tracks featuring prominent non-retractable claw marks, and that infamous defensive musk, all anchored in this library by the striped skunk.

Telling this group apart from its neighbors comes down to a few field-observable giveaways that rule out lookalikes like raccoons, badgers, domestic cats, and opossums. While a raccoon features a distinctive dark facial mask, a ringed tail, and hand-like front toes that leave dexterous prints, and a cat leaves a round four-toed track with no visible claw marks, a skunk leaves an unmistakable jet-black coat divided by bold white dorsal stripes, coupled with tubular scat packed with insect fragments and signature shallow, cone-shaped holes dug into turfgrass during midnight grub hunts.

Explore skunks

Illustration of Striped skunkStriped skunkMephitis mephitis

Questions about skunks

SkunksWhat should you do about skunks under a deck?Learn what to do when skunks take up residence under your deck, how to identify them safely, and when to call a professional.SkunksHow do you discourage skunks from a yard?Learn how to effectively discourage skunks from your yard using practical exclusion methods and environmental changes.SkunksDo skunks dig burrows in the ground?Learn whether skunks dig burrows, how to identify their presence, how to exclude them safely, and when to call professionals.SkunksHow do skunks spray?Understand how skunks spray, how to identify their presence, and how to manage them safely.SkunksDo skunks carry rabies?Learn the facts about skunks and rabies, how to identify behavioral signs safely, and what steps to take after an encounter.SkunksAre skunks dangerous?Skunks rarely attack, and the spray is a last resort, but they are a main carrier of rabies in North America. Here is how to stay safe.SkunksDo skunks kill chickens?Learn whether skunks kill chickens, how to identify coop intruders, and practical ways to protect your flock safely.SkunksWhen are skunks most active?Skunks are mostly active at dusk and through the night. They slow down on cold winter days, and nursing mothers may forage longer in spring.SkunksWhy do skunks smell so bad?Skunks have scent glands under the tail filled with an oily liquid full of sulfur compounds, which they spray only when threatened.SkunksHow can you discourage skunks from sheltering under a deck?Learn how to humanely discourage skunks from sheltering under your deck using exclusion barriers and proper property maintenance.SkunksWhat attracts skunks to bird seed?Learn what attracts skunks to bird seed, how to identify their presence, and practical steps to keep them away from your yard.

Research sources

This page was researched with publications from these institutions, then written and reviewed by The Pest Guide Team: