WILDLIFE REMOVAL

Skunk Removal in Toronto, Oakville & the GTA

Skunks out from under decks, porches and sheds, then screened out

Skunk removal for homes in Toronto, Oakville and the GTA. Skunks dig dens under decks, porches and sheds, and tear up lawns looking for grubs. We find the den, check for young, move the skunk out with a one-way door or a live trap, and then screen the base to block the way back in.

Bitten or scratched by a skunk? Wash the wound with soap and water for at least 15 minutes, see a doctor right away and report it to your public health unit.

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AT A GLANCE

Skunks at a Glance

Striped skunk, the only skunk in Ontario

Size: About 54 cm long; 2.25 to 3.6 kg in Toronto
Colour: Black with white stripes that fork at the shoulders
Body: Stout, short legs, long front claws, bushy tail
How to tell: White stripe from the head splitting into a V down the back
Active: Active all year, dormant through long cold spells
Where found: Under decks, porches and sheds; lawns at night
Spray and rabies: Sprays when cornered; can carry rabies

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Signs of a Skunk Under Your Deck, Porch or Shed

If you’ve noticed any of these, call and a licensed technician will tell you what it points to.

Call (905) 739-7888

A fresh hole dug under the edge of a deck, porch step or shed that has no foundation
Small, cone-shaped holes 7.5 to 10 cm across in the lawn, often with strips of sod rolled back
Soil or crumpled newspaper you stuffed in a hole gets pushed through
Tracks with five toes and claw marks, or droppings full of insect bits, near the opening
Skunk smell around the yard at night, or a dog that comes back from the yard sprayed

Skunk acting sick or strange?

Keep people and pets away from a skunk that is circling, staggering or walking up to people. Ontario's Wildlife Health Information Line (1-888-574-6656, business hours) takes calls about sick or strange-acting wildlife; in Toronto, call 311.

Ontario: Rabies in wildlife

IDENTIFICATION

How to Tell It's a Skunk

Ontario has one skunk, the striped skunk. It is roughly cat-sized, around 54 cm long, and skunks in Toronto weigh 2.25 to 3.6 kg on average. The fur is black, with a thin white stripe down the middle of the face and a wide white stripe from the back of the head that splits at the shoulders and runs down both sides of the back. The tail is bushy, mostly black, often with a white tip. Short legs and long front claws make it a strong digger, and it is out mostly at night.

Skunk or raccoon digging: both dig lawns for grubs, and so do dogs. Skunk holes are small cones, 7.5 to 10 cm across, worked across the lawn section by section. Check for tracks before you decide.
Tracks: five toes on the front and hind feet with claw marks showing. The hind print is about 6 cm long.
Droppings: 6 to 13 mm thick and 2.5 to 5 cm long, often packed with bits of insects.
Smell alone is not proof: skunks avoid spraying in their own den, opossums smell similar, and a sprayed dog can mislead you. A smell that grows stronger day after day usually means a dead skunk.

OUR APPROACH

How Our Skunk Removal Works

Step 1
Find the Den
We check the base of the deck, porch, shed and house for fresh digging and test each opening: one plugged with loose soil or newspaper that gets pushed through is in use. We also check whether young are likely to be in the den before any work is planned.
Step 2
Plan Around the Young
Skunks are usually born in early May and stay with their mother through the summer. The City of Toronto advises against a one-way door from April to September unless the young can move on their own, and Ontario says to wait for autumn where you can, so a mother is not cut off from her young. Sick, injured or orphaned skunks go to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.
Step 3
One-Way Door or Live Trap
Where it works, a one-way exclusion door lets the skunk leave on its own and stops it getting back in. Where it doesn't, a licensed trapper on our staff live-traps it, and it is released within 24 hours close to where it was caught (Ontario's guidance says within 1 km), only on property whose owner agrees.
Step 4
Screen the Base
Once the den has been empty for several days, the opening is closed and the base of the structure is screened with heavy galvanized wire mesh or boards. The screen goes 20 to 30 cm into the ground and then bends 20 to 30 cm outward before the trench is backfilled. The outward bend makes it harder for a skunk to dig back under.

SPRAY AND RABIES

Are Skunks Dangerous? Spray, Bites and Rabies

Skunks are not aggressive and spray only when they feel threatened. First they warn you: stamping the front feet, raising the tail and turning the rear toward you. Back away slowly. The spray can be aimed accurately at about 3 m and reach 6 m. On skin it burns, and in the eyes it is painful and can blind for a short time: flush with plenty of clean water and see a doctor. Bites are a bigger concern. Skunks are one of the four animals that spread rabies most often in Ontario, along with bats, foxes and raccoons.

Rabies spreads through a bite that breaks the skin, or saliva getting into a cut, the mouth, nose or eyes. It does not spread through blood, urine or feces.
If a skunk bites or scratches you, wash the wound with soap and water for at least 15 minutes, see a doctor right away and report it to your public health unit. In Toronto that is Toronto Public Health at 416-338-7600.
Treatment to prevent rabies works best when it starts soon after the bite or scratch. Once symptoms begin, rabies is almost always fatal.
Ontario requires cats, dogs and ferrets over 3 months old to be vaccinated against rabies. If your pet may have tangled with a sick skunk, call your vet.

RISKS AND DAMAGE

What Damage Do Skunks Do?

A skunk under the deck is mostly a smell and lawn problem, not a structural one. Skunk damage to buildings is odour: spray soaks into cloth furniture, clothing and carpets and can carry to rooms several floors away. Outside, a skunk hunting grubs can turn over patches of lawn night after night, though the digging usually stops after about three weeks once the grubs run out.

Holes and rolled-up sod across lawns and gardens, mostly in spring and summer
Pets sprayed, most often at night, and spray odour carried indoors
Raided garbage, compost and pet food, and now and then eggs or poultry in a backyard coop

Skunks are a nuisance more than a danger to the house; call a professional when one is denning against the house, when young may be inside, or when you would rather not risk the spray.

CAUSES

Why Skunks Move In Under Decks and Sheds

Skunks are expert diggers, and an open space under a porch, deck or shed with no foundation is an easy den. Food close by makes the spot better. Removing a skunk without dealing with what drew it in leaves the den open for the next one.

What Draws Them In

Grubs and other insects in the lawn, closest to the surface after rain
Garbage and open compost
Pet food and bird seed left outside
Fallen fruit and vegetable gardens
Mice and rats living in sheds, garages and crawl spaces
Woodpiles, rock piles and debris to hide under

How They Get In

Gaps under decks, porches and front steps
Sheds and outbuildings with no foundation
Old groundhog burrows near the house
Open foundation and crawl space openings
Window wells, which skunks fall into and cannot climb out of

HABITS

Skunk Habits Through an Ontario Year

Habitat

Striped skunks prefer open country where woods and grassland mix and have adapted well to living near people. They usually take over a den another animal dug, such as an old groundhog burrow, and also den under decks, porches, sheds and houses, in stumps and in rock piles. A den can have up to five hidden openings and a nest chamber lined with leaves.

Diet

Skunks eat almost anything. In summer it is mostly insects: grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, and the white grubs and cutworms they dig out of lawns. In fall and winter about half of what they eat is plants and fruit. They also take mice and birds' eggs, and they forage mostly within about 800 m of the den.

Life Cycle

In Ontario, skunks mate from February to March and the young are born about eight weeks later, usually in early May. A litter is typically four to seven. Their eyes open at about three weeks, and at about seven weeks the mother starts leading them out to forage. They are weaned by two months, stay with her until autumn and may share her winter den. Few live past three years.

Seasonal Behaviour in Ontario

Skunks start waking in late February and are fully active by the end of March. Mating runs from February into March, the young arrive in May, and spring and summer are when they dig lawns for grubs. By fall they have put on fat, and in November or December they settle into a deep winter den. They do not truly hibernate: they stay mostly inactive and may come out briefly at any time during winter.

PREVENTION

How to Keep Skunks From Coming Back

Screen the base of decks, porches and sheds with boards or heavy galvanized wire mesh, 20 to 30 cm down and bent 20 to 30 cm outward underground.
Keep garbage and compost lids tight with a bungee cord or strap, and don't put garbage out overnight.
Feed pets indoors, clean up spilled bird seed and pick up fallen fruit.
Clear out rock and debris piles, cut tall grass and brush, and stack woodpiles neatly.
Cover window wells, or leave a rough board in the well as a ramp at under 45 degrees.
Lay 2.5 cm (one-inch) chicken wire mesh over lawn areas where skunks keep digging for grubs.
Put motion-sensitive lights or sprinklers by the deck or shed, and keep the garage door closed.
Deal with mice and rats in sheds and garages, since rodents draw skunks too.

How to Get Rid of Skunks Under a Deck or Shed

If no young are in the den, you can try moving a skunk on yourself with the City of Toronto's steps. Confirm the hole is in use, then make the den an unpleasant place to stay: a bright light, a radio on a talk station at the entrance, or used kitty litter scattered around the hole. Once the plugged hole has sat untouched for three to five days, close it and screen the base. Ontario's rules still apply if you trap one.

Never close a hole before checking it. A skunk shut inside will die there, and the smell will tell you.
If you live-trap a skunk, release it within 24 hours close to where it was caught (Ontario says within 1 km), and on someone else's property only with their permission. Driving it across town is against Ontario's rules.
Body-gripping traps and poison can lead to criminal or provincial charges.
Call a professional when the den is against the house, when young may be inside, or when you would rather not get close to a skunk.

WHY CHOOSE US

Why Ontario Homeowners Choose Sting Out

No Binding Contracts

Cancel anytime, with no lock-in and no pressure. If you keep us on, it should be because the work is getting results.

Licensed Trapper on Staff

When an animal has to be caught, a licensed trapper on our staff live-traps it. Bats are never trapped: they leave through one-way doors, in Ontario's exclusion windows.

Ontario's Release Rules

A live-caught animal is released within 24 hours, close to where it was caught, and only on property whose owner agrees. Sick, injured or orphaned animals go to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.

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COMMON QUESTIONS

Skunk Removal: Questions We Get

Do skunks hibernate in winter?

No, not truly. In November or December skunks settle into a deep den and go into torpor: they stay mostly inactive and eat very little, and they may come out briefly at any time during winter. Females often share a den, up to twelve together, while males usually den alone. They start waking in late February and are fully active by the end of March. A skunk will often use the same winter den year after year, which is why a deck that had a skunk last winter is worth screening.

Can you remove a skunk with babies under my deck?

Usually the plan waits on the young. They are born in early May and cannot follow their mother until they are about seven weeks old, so closing the den or setting a one-way door in spring can leave them stranded inside. The City of Toronto advises against a one-way door from April to September unless the young can move on their own. Any young skunk found without its mother goes to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.

Do you exterminate skunks?

No. Ontario allows a wildlife removal business to capture and release problem wildlife, not kill it. A skunk leaves through a one-way door, or a licensed trapper live-traps it and releases it within 24 hours close to where it was caught (Ontario's guidance says within 1 km), on property whose owner agrees. Then the base is screened to block the way back in.

My dog got sprayed by a skunk. What do I do?

Keep the dog outside and avoid handling it with bare hands until it is washed. The City of Mississauga suggests mixing four cups of 3% hydrogen peroxide, a quarter cup of baking soda and a tablespoon of dish soap, leaving it on the coat for five to ten minutes, then rinsing. More than one bath may be needed. If the spray hit the eyes, or you are worried about your dog's health, call your vet.

How do I get a skunk out of a window well?

Give it a ramp. Skunks are poor climbers, so put a rough board, or a board with cleats, into the well at an angle under 45 degrees. Approach slowly, keep low, and back off if the skunk stamps its feet or raises its tail. Keep people and pets away and it will usually climb out after dark. Then leave the ramp in place or put a tight cover over the well.

How much does skunk removal cost?

We quote each job on its own rather than publish a set price. A one-way door and live trapping take different numbers of visits, and the length of deck, porch or shed base to screen changes the work. Call (905) 739-7888 or send the quote form and tell us where the skunk is denning. The quote is free, and there's no binding contract.

Sources

Last reviewed October 2026

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Skunk Removal Across Toronto, Oakville & the GTA

We remove skunks from homes and businesses throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario.

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