There are three things you should know if you have regular run-ins with skunks.

Hydrogen peroxide.

Baking soda.

Dawn dish soap.

You can buy expensive commercial treatments if you want to, or go the tomato juice route – you’ll spend a fortune and your home will look like the prom scene from “Carrie,” but hey. Do what you want.

All of our experts on the matter swear by the above formula when it comes to eliminating the obnoxious eye-watering stench after a skunk sprays your dog, your cat or your lawn furniture. Write it down, just in case.

And with that critical dose of stink-reducing news out of the way, we’re free to explore the weird world of skunks.

ITS NOT ALL BLACK AND WHITE

If anybody knows skunks better than wildlife control expert Rich Burton, we’re not sure we’d like to meet that person.

Burton, who runs Specialized Wild Animal Trapping, has dealt with thousands of the animals. He traps them. He investigates them. Sometimes he picks them up and plays with them.

He doesn’t recommend it for you though.

For one thing, Burton knows how to read a skunk. A 3-year-old tubby female, for instance, probably won’t spray if Burton picks her up. A young male on the other hand?

“You’re either going to get bit or sprayed or both,” Burton said. “And they’ve got a wicked bite to them.”

Skunks, as it turns out, are the current No. 2 carriers of rabies, just behind bats. Burton, who mixes it up with wildlife seven days a week, is vaccinated against the disease.

“If I screw up and get bit, I’m not going to die from it,” he says. “If Joe Blow gets bit and then doesn’t tell anyone about it, he could drop dead.”

Here’s the thing, though. Burton and others who are intimately familiar with the odoriferous creatures are quick to point out one salient fact: Skunks aren’t out to get you. They’re not after your cherished pet, either.

“There’s no animosity between skunks and cats or dogs,” said Dr. Stephen Kinney, an Auburn veterinarian who also performs the delicate task of de-scenting skunks for a rescue center. “You’ll see somebody put food outside for their dog, and then a skunk comes along to eat it. You’ll often see them eating side-by-side with a cat.”

Kinney likes skunks, and says that under the right conditions they make good pets. But he also knows the anti-stink formula right down to the finest detail, because sometimes skunks DO spray, and when they do it’s not pleasant –readers describe that smell as “like burning tires,” “like burnt crap” and “the worst smell ever!”

Not good, in other words.

VIOLENCE STINKS

So if skunks aren’t out to spray us, why does it happen at all?

More often than not, humans or their pets are mere collateral damage. In breeding season, for instance, males will spray other males while they duke it out over a desired female – sort of like the old Pepe Le Pew cartoons, but with more violence.

If you happen to have a sexy female skunk living under your shed, in other words, chances are good that there will eventually be some spraying going on, even if it isn’t meant for you personally.

Skunks can’t stand their own stench, Burton says. They’re only going to deploy the tactic of spraying to ward off a predator or a competitor.

Also, baby skunks can get a little trigger happy, apparently, while scrapping with siblings.

“The babies fight like teenagers,” Burton says. “They’ll spray themselves, or they’ll spray their sisters in the face. These are juvenile skunks playing around. They’re fighting amongst themselves.”

A skunk might also spray if it feels it has no other recourse. The charging dog, for instance. Or the more benign: Burton gets called out all the time, he says, for skunks trapped in broken fences, lattice work or between barn boards.

GROUNDHOG COHABITATION

With autumn coming around, the skunks of the world will start looking for winter accommodations. They’re decent diggers, but if given the chance, they’ll skip the labor and move into some other creature’s fortress. Namely groundhogs.

“Skunks can smell a groundhog burrow from a mile away and they know it’s a perfect place to move in,” Burton says, “because groundhogs dig really elaborate burrows.”

The problems for the groundhog are obvious – while they’re digging in for a long hibernation, some uninvited skunk might be having his way with the groundhog’s quiet little home.

If that skunk happens to have rabies, it can be a problem for the wider world, as well.

“When the groundhog comes out of hibernation in the springtime,” Burton says, “he pops out and there’s the skunk. They have a to-do, he gets bit and, lo and behold, a month later you have a groundhog chasing cars and people and dogs.

“That,” Burton says, “is why we’ve seen more and more rabid groundhogs the last few years.”

Bottom line: Skunks don’t necessarily mean to cause stink and mayhem for the rest of the world, but sometimes they do. Need some examples?

We asked our readers for skunk stories and, my, how they responded.

A skunk whisperer?

We had a family of skunks living under our porch when I was a kid. One day my dad saw one of the babies with its head stuck in a mini mayonnaise jar it took from our trash. My dad went over and tried to pull off the jar, but had no luck. He ended up cracking it open with a hammer and releasing the baby skunk. The mom and two other babies were waiting for it at the corner of the garage. We watched it scramble off to its mom and they all walked away together. Nobody got sprayed and we thought our dad was the skunk whisperer for years. Until he got sprayed a few years later and we thought it was the worst smell EVER. It smelled like burnt crap. It was awful.

— Brooke Morin Lachance, Auburn

A pet in the pink

We had a pet skunk when I was in high school. His name was Cin-Cin and honestly they are just like a cat. I should note, he was de-scented. I loved freaking out my friends when they came over by casually bringing him out like it was no big deal, LOL. Crazy fact: If you feed it anything with tomatoes in it, its stripe will turn pink.

— Renee St. Jean, Farmingdale

Skunken driving

Back in my late teens/early 20s, I was hammered per usual and attempted a bike ride on a 10-speed to the store about a half-mile away in Waterville, Maine. I was riding reasonably successfully, I think, but saw a skunk crossing the road ahead. In my inebriated mind I was steering away from the skunk, but ended up running over it on my bike. I made it to the store assuming I hadn’t been sprayed, but once I picked out my various Slim Jims and chips, etc., the cashier said something smelled bad. I didn’t think much of it and headed home. I should not have been walking, let alone riding a bike. I began smelling burnt rubber when I got close to home and went in (the house). Within a few minutes it really kicked in and it was in my face hardcore. It got more and more intense, as I had stopped moving and was at home, until it finally completely overwhelmed me. It was the equivalent of sticking your face over burning tires and breathing it without respite. I believe I got in the tub and poured cans of stewed tomatoes and chopped tomatoes, anything tomato-based. . . . I proceeded to cry and whine like an 8-year-old for what seemed like an eternity. My bicycle was not usable until weeks after and many coats of canned tomatoes.

— Steven Dubowik, Waterboro

Attack skunk

Got trapped in my house by a skunk. . . . After beating him round the head with a shovel and brought lots of blood getting him off my dog . . . (he) chased my little booty right down the driveway and into my house. . . . (I) escaped by trapping his little neck in the door till he backed out. . . . (I) could not get outside for hours. . . . The ranger said he was just cranky and old. Like moi, so I can understand.

— Lin Prescott, Auburn

That P.U.-car smell

I was home, on leave from military service, and had bought a brand new VW Beetle. I was very pleased with my new car; I decided to drive to Dixfield so I could show the car to some friends. As I came around a bend in the road, there was a skunk in my lane of the road. I barely managed to avoid hitting the skunk, but the skunk apparently was not very pleased with the close encounter. The skunk showed its displeasure in typical skunk fashion.

I went on and showed my new car to my friends, but the car definitely did not have the “new car smell!”

— Andy Powell, Turner

What was he thinking?

Years ago a neighbor told me this story and although I have no proof, you just can’t make these things up!

Sometimes you just aren’t thinking right!

(The neighbor) lived in an old homestead that was built a couple hundred years ago with a very old basement. He was having problems with skunks getting into the basement. One evening he could hear a scratching at the cellar door that went to the basement. To say the least he had “had it with those varmints!”

He went and got his shotgun and told his teenage son that when he said “Now,” open the door. . . . “Now” he shouted, the door was swung open and “bang!”

I’m sure it took a very long time for the old homestead to be rid of that stench!

— Jeanne Tidswell

The newcomers versus the squatter

The old Maine farmhouse across the street had been vacant for a few years when a young family from Manhattan decided to flee the aftermath of 9/11 and get out of the city for life as it should be. I introduced myself and watched as they settled in. At around 10:30 on the third night, the alarm went out. The neighborhood was awakened by a frantic call from the new resident to our local volunteer fire department about a fire in the old homestead. According to the callers, there was an overpowering smell of “burning plastic.” With panic in the air and more than half the town’s fire equipment in full regalia, I went over to assist. As I wove through the crowd, asking if anyone was hurt, a fireman leaned over (with breather equipment on) and explained that the cause was, in fact, an existing tenant on the property: a big black, furry, white-stripped one.

— Pat O’Brien, New Gloucester

Hot stinkin’ stoves and roosting skunks

I have two skunk stories for you:

1. My husband and I were sleeping when my father-in-law had to let the dog out late at night (this was a very cold night in February!). While the dog was outside Father added more wood to the kitchen stove, making it nice and hot. The dog started making noise to come inside and Father opened the door: The dog ran in and shook himself off RIGHT BESIDE THE HOT STOVE! He had been sprayed by a skunk outside and the wetness went onto the stove and burned. Nothing smells as bad as burning skunk pee. This being a regular farmhouse kitchen, right beside the stove was a wall full of outdoor clothes, which also got anointed by the smell.

So here we are, middle of February, with all windows open, still gagging and throwing clothes into the washer. The dog got thrown back out and, no, tomato juice didn’t clean her — had to buy something from the vet. Long night!

2. A year or so ago, I had a chicken go broody and she was sitting on nine eggs. I had moved all other chickens out so she could have quiet. Early in the morning I went to check on her and she was standing in the middle of the room squawking her head off. The nest box was on the floor 2 feet from the door (right beside me). I turned and looked down and curled up on top of the eggs was a skunk! Skunks will go into a chicken house and eat eggs, but this one looked to be sleeping. I got the chicken out and monitored the skunk for the rest of the day. It never got off the eggs and eventually it looked to have stopped breathing. Dead! So we waited a good 24 hours to be absolutely sure it was dead, then very carefully got it out of there and disposed of it.

— Anita Chandler, Monmouth

Spoiled harvest

When I was small my parent’s freezer stood in the shed attached to the back of our home. To help support their family of six, we raised four beds of vegetables, 100 or so apple trees and a strawberry patch.

We had just filled the freezer for the winter when we had a visit from Pepe Le Pew. We had to throw all the food away. It was the first time I saw my parents cry.

— Jan Bunford, South Lewiston

College was a gas

My wife went to college in Massachusetts. One of her classmates was the daughter of a famous movie director who grew up in Hollywood and Manhattan. Neither of those places, apparently, was prime skunk country. There was no air conditioning in the dorm and the windows were always open. One night a skunk sprayed near the woman’s window. Not knowing what else to do, she pulled the fire alarm and had to explain to the cops why she thought the building was being gassed.

— Dick Bevins, West Gardiner

Cat of a different stripe

Came home one night, from dancing, was beside the front porch and sang to a skunk (thought it was the cat) and petted it, too. Took a second look because its hair was greasy, yuck! Realized it was a skunk with skinny white stripes, not a cat, ran in the house and it scurried off. Whew!

— Bonny Gonya, Dixfield

They’re watching you

When I lived on Poland Road in Auburn, we had what we would refer to as our pet skunk. We would pull in and he/she would be seen between the garage and house. I would just walk up the walkway and he/she would peek around the corner of the house. I would just tell him/her to go about their business; there was no need to accompany me to the front door. He/she would scurry away. We had an outdoor cat and he never got sprayed. I think they had an agreement. We always talked to the skunk if we saw him/her.

— Kimberly Leonard Brenton, Ellsworth

Good crop of skunks this year

I use to have a dog run, tied to the porch for a tiny poodle. I lived in Wilton, near the downtown area. We would often let the dog out before we went to bed. One night we got a surprise: A huge momma skunk and her little ones greeted the dog and let him have it. Yes, tomato juice works, but it takes a lot of scrubbing to get the smell out. The porch was a mess for weeks and you couldn’t go near it. This happened twice more that summer and I should have bought stock in a juice company. I decided to trap the skunks and dispose of them in the garden. I trapped all summer long and got over 20 of them. The area of the garden where I got rid of them had a pungent, distinctive odor. At the end of the summer my neighbor was talking to me about all the skunks that showed up at his house this past summer and that the smell made it into their bedroom each night. Me? I can laugh about it now, but there are a lot more skunks than you think living in any given area.

— Stephen Broadbent, Auburn

Home smelly home

Two months after adopting our shepherd/Lab, Fergus, he ran face-first into a skunk, sprayed half his face and neck and eye. It was pitch black out in the middle of the night and all hubby and I heard were his yelps. We were standing right next to him, we had no idea he had just been sprayed as neither one of us had seen the skunk and the smell hadn’t hit us yet. We both dropped down to the grass touching him. Needless to say we were all covered in it, and the poor puppy bolted into the house, us chasing him, hands and arms stinking, as he proceeded to rub his face all over the living room rug. I swear it took months to get rid of the smell.

— Linda Doucette Scott, Lewiston

Feeling the love

I don’t think they are out to spray us. I have them in my yard and love them quite a bit, and am curious about them. I usually walk up to them and see how close I can get without causing alarm. Sometimes I hum so I don’t startle them. They really are cute, and most of the time they just amble to get away from me. To get the smell out? One quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 to 2 teaspoons liquid soap. Use solution promptly and use warm water to wet the dog/pet and apply this mixture generously on all skunky-smelly areas and let it sit 10 minutes. Rinse off with warm water. May have to repeat if it was a close spray.

— Denise Morin

No way out

I grew up on a small farm out in West Auburn a number of years ago. We usually retired early. It was a Sunday night, early September, around 9:30 p.m. when we began to hear this noise in the shed, which was attached to the house.

Mother got up and opened the kitchen door, turned on the light and looked down on the floor, and there was this skunk with his head in a glass molasses jar. It was thumping about the shed with the jar and every time it tried to free his head from the glass, it would almost tip over.

Mother called Dad, and he thought it best if we got Skunk out of the shed. It seemed to want to leave, so I was told to get my jeans and shoes on and bring the big flashlight. I grumbled a little about this, but did as I was told. The skunk continued to try and release his head from the jar. I giggled a little when I saw the predicament that skunk was in, and what could happen to us as well. So far no scent. Dad went in the house and got the little shotgun and told me to turn the flashlight on and head for the road. I did and the skunk began to follow the flashlight and me; I am not laughing now.

My dad said there is no way that we can get that molasses jar off the skunk’s head – he had thought maybe he could hook it off, but it was on tight. Skunk followed me up the road, and then Dad told me to stop and head back to the house, and he shot the skunk; it would not have to die a painful death.

I brought a shovel back up to Dad and we buried the skunk and the molasses jar beside the road next to a stone wall. That skunk never did spray. Since the skunk got into the barrel that we put bottles and cans into, Dad put a new wooden cover on it to keep critters from getting in there ever again. At the time we did not think this was funny, but over the years as we thought back about it, it was both sad and funny.

— Mary Spofford Story King, Auburn

Awful and everywhere

My dog got sprayed in the face. Baking soda and peroxide was the only way to get the stench off. It was horrible. He stunk up the entire world it seemed.

— Jessica Noel-Hutchinson, Lewiston

A lingering reminder 

My dog was sprayed directly in the face once by a baby skunk.

I washed him a couple dozen times, using tomato juice, doggie shampoo, store-bought skunk-off . . .

The odor was still on him a year later, not as strong of course, but I could smell it whenever he got wet from swimming or being out in the rain. I think after almost two years the smell was finally gone completely.

— Garett St. Pierre, Auburn

A shaker and a stinker

I had a black Lab who would catch them and shake them. He got sprayed many times – Ivory soap worked best, but not great. He always still smelled when he was wet. We also had one (skunk) literally chase us one night, came right at us. So crazy.

Anne Perrino, Lewiston

In a class off their own

My husband and I spent the night trying to wash the smell from our dog, then had a morning meeting with some teachers. Tried to explain why we smelled “skunky.” They looked skeptical.

— Jo-Anne Leonard Teacutter, Greene

Mephitis mephitis

The skunk’s Latin name “mephitis” translates to “noxious gas.” Their ability to expel a fine spray of foul-smelling liquid develops at less than one month old. Skunks can spray up to 23 feet in a favorable wind, although they are usually only accurate up to about 6 feet.

The skunk diet consists of mice, eggs, insects, carrion, frogs, small birds and berries.

The lifespan of the striped skunk is two to three years, although they have been known to live to the age of 7.

Source: curiodyssey.org

Stench-be-gone: The experts’ recipe

Got stink? Got a cat, dog or kid who’s been sprayed by a skunk?

You could try tomato juice, but most people who’ve been there agree: Tomato juice is expensive to use in large quantities, it’s messy and it doesn’t necessarily eliminate skunk stench.

Fortunately, the experts have you covered. The following formula is far and away the most often suggested remedy for the aftermath of a skunk encounter according to the experts we talked to. Just remember that skunk spray is oil-based. One needs to give the concoction time to work.

“People don’t realize that this formula is not a soap,” says Rich Burton of Specialized Wild Animal Trapping Control. “It’s a chemical reaction. You have to let that chemical dry for a good 40 minutes before you wash it off.”

The recipe:

Hydrogen peroxide: 1 quart

Baking soda: 1/4 cup

Dawn dish detergent: 1-2 teaspoons

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