THE SKUNK HAS FINALLY BEEN TAKEN CARE OF AND I CAN SAVE YOU A LOT OF MONEY. YOU CAN DEFINITELLY DO THIS JOB YOURSELF!!!!!

This is what my front porch has looked like for quite some time now. There is skunk living under the porch. Even though we clean the area up and replace the bricks on the walkway, we constantly wake up to this mess.

Mr. Sunshine has managed to keep the skunk out of its favourite neighbourhood den by blocking the entrance with very large pieces of stone. There are also shirts drenched with ammonia under there and a lot of golf balls and gravel to fill the empty area. It doesn't really matter what we do. Only the boulders have denied him access so far. He still tries to get in.

Well as everyone knows we have been battling a skunk problem for a few years now. He was living under my front porch and destroying the front walkway.

Mr Sunshine finally stopped him from getting back in with large chunks of brick but that looked horrible so we needed to have the problem fixed. Well, to fix the problem costs about $500.

First, they will install a two way door at the start of the tunnel that has been dug and leave it there for about 10 days. Apparently, the skunk living under the porch has got to get hungry and leave the den within the 10 days. He will leave and not be able to gain access back into the den. This two way door costs anywhere from $250-$350.

Once the skunk is gone then they will dig and install wire to your front porch and guarantee that the skunk or any other animal will not get back in. That costs anywhere from $22-$30 dollars a linear foot depending on the company.

Well, the skunk was gone thanks to Mr. Sunshine and it could not get back in. I told Mr Sunshine that I was going to call and get the screen installed so that the problem is solved because even though the skunk could not get back in we had to restore some sort of order once again. We had to remove the large boulders, screen the porch and put the brick walkway back together. Once we did all that, the skunk would hopefully get board and leave us for good. Well, several phone calls later and I finally found a company who would come out and fix the problem for $250 dollars for approximately 6 linear feet. All of the other 17 companies were not interested because they said that they make their money on the door and its not worth their while just to install the screening. They all told me to call a contractor but if the skunk were to get back in and I was interested in a two way door then call them back.

I know that $250 is a lot of money but it was worth not having Mr Sunshine and myself frustrated any longer not to mention to safety issue with the walkway being constantly ripped up. So after a few days of thinking about it I called the company and they came the next morning.

First they dig a trench about 12" straight down and out.

Remember that you have to make sure that your skunk is gone before doing this. You don't want to close him in there for several reasons.

Then they add a heavy duty wire mesh to the area (I think that he said that it was 16 or 17 or 19 gage. I don't really remember).

Then they screw the wire mesh into the concrete with large ugly bolts. At this time I was doing a lot of questioning as to how this was going to look once it was done. The installer assured me that it would be barely noticeable.

Well, then they put it all somewhat back together which apparently is really not part of their job but he didn't want to leave it the way that it was and risk the kids getting hurt. That was very nice of him.

I don't know what you think but it is pretty noticeable and really ugly looking to me.

Now I have to find a solution for the eye sore that is screwed into my porch. Any suggestions anyone?

In the end after witnessing myself what they actually do, myself or Mr Sunshine could have done the same thing for a lot less money. They installed the same mesh to the front and side of the porch. It has been about a month now and things are good. We saw some signs of skunk digging on the weekend but it was only on the side in the soil. He must have gotten bored just like they said he would and left. The digging was very minimal and easily fixed with a shovel.

Good luck if this happens to you. I am very confident that you could do the job yourself if you choose to, after all it can't look any worse then this does and it really does do the job. If you choose to have it taken care of by a professional then do some research because the prices differ from company to company.