If you find an injured or orphaned skunk, badger, weasel, fisher or wolverine, please contact Think Wild at 541 241 8680.
Do not handle these animals with bare hands, as they may carry rabies or other diseases. If you have found an injured or orphaned skunk, be careful of a stomping behavior or the skunk turning around and raising its tail to prevent from getting sprayed.
If you find an uninjured orphaned skunk, leave it where it is for up to 12 hours, then recheck to see if it is still there. Mother and baby skunks can smell each other, and the baby may be retrieved by the mother at a later time. If the baby is very young, place it in a box in a quiet, warm location with a heating pad underneath.
Do not feed the baby.
If you or your pet gets sprayed by a skunk, use this formula:
- 1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide
- ¼ cup baking soda
- 1 tsp. liquid soap.
If you are having conflicts with skunk(s) on your property, try these humane mitigation techniques:
Nesting in property
- If no babies, can soak a towel or sheet in ammonia and leave onsite when raccoon is gone, smells like pee, prevents raccoon from coming back. If there are babies, be patient and wait for the skunk family to leave on their own after about eight weeks.
- Make sure no exposed trash (can use bungee cord over trash can)
- Feed pets during the day or inside. Do not leave out overnight – pet food is a huge attractant for skunks and raccoons.
- Minimize shelters for raccoons and skunks to hide in by cleaning up debris piles and putting hardware cloth around outbuildings.
- Consider removing bird feeder or making sure no seed is falling on the ground for animals to eat.
- Make sure no holes under deck or in siding. Use hardware cloth to cover holes or entries to deck. Bury the hardware cloth or have it come down to the ground and bend 90 degrees to create an apron going out away from the structure. Wire along ground can be buried slightly.
- Play a radio, use motion activated lights and sprinklers, bang pots and pans to scare animal off
- Trim up any low vegetation that provides shelter
Pets being Sprayed
- Check outdoor areas and make noises before letting pets out (especially at dawn, night, or dusk)
- Keep pet on a leash or let them out inside a type of fenced in run
- If animal is sprayed use this common recipe to bathe your pet: Combine 1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup of baking soda, and 1 teaspoon liquid dishwashing soap to make a shampoo