How to get rid of skunks & groundhogs

First, tell which animal it is

The fix is similar, but the clues are different. A groundhog (woodchuck) is a stocky brown animal active in the daytime, spring through fall. It digs a wide burrow with a main entrance and one or two hidden escape holes, usually with a fan of excavated dirt at the mouth. A skunk is black and white, active at night, and gives itself away with that musky smell and with shallow, cone-shaped holes it digs in the lawn hunting grubs. Skunks often den in a burrow a groundhog already dug.

Why it’s under the deck or shed

A deck, shed floor or slab gives a dry, sheltered roof over the den. Groundhog tunnels can run ten to thirty feet and undermine the slab, footing or steps above them. Both animals favor these spots in spring for raising young, which is where the timing gets important.

What not to do

• Don’t seal the hole until you know it’s empty. Loosely stuff the entrance with newspaper and check for a day or two — if it’s pushed back out, the den is active.
• Don’t use poison. It’s not legal or effective for these animals and it’s dangerous to pets and other wildlife.
• Don’t corner a skunk. A cornered skunk sprays, and the smell gets into siding, decks and pets for weeks.
• Don’t count on repellents. Mothballs, ammonia rags and ultrasonic gadgets might move an animal for a night, but they don’t keep a determined digger out.

The safe way to remove them

1. Confirm it’s active and empty of young. The entrance is monitored before anything is sealed.
2. Remove humanely. The animal is trapped or moved out with a one-way door once no dependent young remain.
3. Dig-proof the structure. The lasting fix is a buried barrier — galvanized hardware cloth trenched down about a foot and bent outward in an “L” along the base of the deck or shed — so nothing re-digs under it.
4. Backfill the burrow once you’re sure it’s empty.

A note on New Jersey rules

Skunks are a rabies-vector species in New Jersey, and the state heavily restricts relocating them — a trapped skunk generally can’t just be released somewhere else. That, plus the spray and the spring-litter timing, is why skunk work in particular is usually best left to a licensed operator who knows the rules. This page is general guidance, not legal advice; confirm current rules with NJ Fish & Wildlife.

Keep the next one out

Screen or skirt the open sides of decks and sheds with buried mesh, keep grub populations down in the lawn, and don’t leave pet food or fallen birdseed out overnight. Take away the easy shelter and the easy meal and the yard stops being worth the dig.

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