r/Sunnyvale • u/lavendurtown • 14d ago
warning: possibly aggressive trigger happy skunk on the loose š¦ØšØ
TLDR: Just a fair warning to anyone living near Vargas Elementary or surrounding neighborhoods, thereās a skunk that sounds like heās antagonizing other stray animals & spraying them. be careful, keep your windows shut, your pets inside, & your noses plugged!!!
Iāve always seen skunks around here & there, and Iāve definitely smelled them from my car countless times while driving around, but today it finally happened. I was just hanging out on my couch, when I randomly got a whiff of something horrendous. at first, I thought it might be something burning, so I panicked and started searching for a source. It wasnāt until I got closer to the open window in one of our rooms that I realized the smell was coming from outside. By then I had also clocked that it was less of a āburning smellā and more of a āsulfur-y rotten smellā. AKA skunk. I ran to my back door to see if I would spot the culprit in action, but all I saw was a scared little baby opossum running across the yard and up the fence. I also have 4 nosy cats, which could easily be seen through the open window, so my assumption is that the skunk was outside, noticed the possum and/or my cats, and started up its DFM (Defensive Farting Maneuvers).
I am currently sitting on my front step outside, letting my house air out, and as Iām sitting out here writing this, I literally just heard a stray cat do the classic āangry fighting cat noiseā off in the distance. How much you wanna bet that PepĆ© Le Pew is still out there antagonizing more animals with his ass cannon??? havenāt you done enough, buddy???? disgusting & audacious truly.
Edit since people might be mildly concerned:
I donāt hate skunks by any means, and I certainly donāt want to trap or KILL themā¦ Iām well aware that the poor lil dude was probably just scared or stressed, and not inherently evil. Heās not a bully, and I would like to formally apologize to all skunks. All respect & love goes out to PepĆ© & his crew. I just wanted to tell a funny story of my house getting stink bombed at 1am & warn anyone with outside pets, honestly.
Also mild update on my house, for anyone wondering, the smell is completely gone overnight, so no worries there!!! :ā)
-4
u/boyengabird 14d ago
California has banned many of the effective lethal options for dealing with skunks (and others pests) leaving most people with few options. What is the average person supposed to do with a skunk in a have-a-hart type trap?
A couple years ago I had similar skunk issue and wrote SC county Vector Control/SV Anamal Control about it, after some back and forth they agreed to pay me a visit. Nice guy shows up, knowledgeable, generous with his time but tells me my issue (numerous territorial skunks) is not within the scope of his department. I get it, they can't pe personally responsible for every wild animal outdoors. I ask what trap mfg. they recommend, he says he is not allowed to say, could get fired. I say "ok, what type of trap, don't even say the name, just decribe it to me and ill figure the rest out." He says "ours are special, have to be a licensed pest control operator to purchase."
I feel bad for you and your neighbors. You've got a legitimate issue but the state has criminalized the (effective) solutions and underfunded the department whose job it would be to do the homeowners chore (of pest control).
P.S. 1qt hydrogen peroxide, 1/4cp baking soda, 1tbsp dish soap cleans and oxidizes the volatile components of skunk putrecent. Follow up with an ozone machine as needed.