Removing attractants that draw skunks is the best possible prevention. Do not leave dog and cat food or garbage where skunks can get to it. A good rodent control program will also discourage skunks. Clean up old piles of lumber and brush where skunks may live. You should board up entries and crawl spaces under sheds, houses, and other buildings. Entrances can be blocked with chicken wire and it should be buried at least 6 inches. Buried wire should be set in an “L” shape and extended out another 6 inches to keep the skunk from digging under the wire.
Installing one-way doors at the entrance of dens is an option. If the skunk digs new entrances around the door, plug them up. Leave the one-way door installed for several days to ensure that the skunk is really gone.
Mild harassment of the skunks works some of the time. Leave repellents such as ammonia soaked rags or mothballs in burrows or where skunks have to pass to go in and out of their dens. It has even been suggested that leaving a light on under a shed or deck utilized by a skunk may make it move out.
Here's a repellent that came from Jerry Baker, Master Gardener's radio talk show: Mix 8 oz. Murphy's oil soap with 4 oz. of castor oil and 1 oz. of human urine in 1 gallon of water(U. of WI - Madison Extension Document G3273).
