There are times in a person’s life when a skunk may find its way onto their property or may be in their pathway while they are out for walk. The person takes out their garbage and comes face to face with one of these critters, or they are walking along a pathway and suddenly a skunk appears in front of him or her.
This is a scenario that not everyone will encounter, but it happens frequently enough that people should be worried that the possibility is likely. If you come across a skunk then you know that it is likely that it will turn on you. It will start to spray and you will get hit. This is something that no one wants to see happen to them.
The spray is a lot more dangerous than you know. It does not just make you smell really bad, but can blind you if it gets into your eyes. It is not permanent, but that blindness can lead to lots of problems. The sinuses can suffer some effects as well. It is not pleasant at all.
So how do you stop this from happening?
First, know that an adult can accurately spray to a length of over 25 feet. That means if you are close, you are not getting away without getting sprayed if you act in a sudden manner. The skunk will react if it is afraid, so the best thing to do is to stop and freeze. If you take no action the skunk will not sense you as dangerous. What this means is that you should make no noise, you should control your breathing as best as you can, and should not move in anyway.
If this is not working and you are close enough to the animal, then the solution is to try to grab at the tail. This animal can only spray you if it has its tail lifted, so if y0u can hold the tail down you will keep it from spraying.
Be aware that these animals will bite and scratch, and they carry a whole lot of diseases. If you can use some kind of cloth or material to protect your exposed skin then do so.
If this is not possible and it will not go away, then the option is to try to scare it without being threatening. One way that has had success comes from the fact that these animals do not like loud noise. Since every person seems to carry a smartphone these days, turn your phones music up as loud as possible, and see if aim the speaker toward the skunk if that will scare it off. It does have likelihood of having success.
Read more:
Skunk Control,
how to kill skunks.
