I've got a lady who called and said she thinks she has a skunk in her attic. I didn't think skunks would climb up in attics but I didn't know. I figured I'd see what you guys thought so I had a better idea of what I was about to get myself into.

Never count out anything an animal can or cannot do.

The next skunk I find in the attic will be the first one. More than likely a raccoon who decided a skunk would make a good meal or be fun to play with. Also bear in mind that to a woman, all wildlife smells like skunk.

Can't say "always" or "never" in this business. Other than that, I've not yet dealt with an actual skunk in an actual attic.

I had a customer tell me they had a skunk in the attic above the garage. It was not. They are diggers not climbers.

Wish I could get a skunk call. 28 below Thursday, 9 degrees right now and snowing with almost a foot on the ground. I don't think there's a horny skunk moving right now. And I doubt I get my usual end of February snake call.

Okay, I'm going to break the rule: If skunks can't climb out of a 2 foot window well, they will never, ever, get into a second story attic or crawl space! ( Okay, one exception: a skunk with a cape and an S on his chest )

Seriously, I have had customers actually put a board in a window well that an self-respecting mammal could easy walk up and all the skunks were still down there. They may have some serious odor but you are never going to find a skunk competing in the gymnastic Olympics.

Paul I look at those claws and don't discount any possibility.

Stranger things have happened.

Y'all think you have problems?
Got a call three days ago for a skunk in a house.
Turns out to be a spotted skunk.
I know he is there, I saw him. The owner saw him/her last night and possibly a smaller one.
Can't get him/her in a trap.
We have been over this house with a fine tooth comb and can't find an entrance location.
Have searched in, around, and through every single room, crack, hole, boot, shoe, basket, vase, you name it, and can't find it.
Any hole big enough to let a mouse through has been examined with a fiber optic scope with no sign at all. Ww have turned over couches and other furniture to check the bottoms.
If it wasn't so frustrating it would be funny.
Oh, forgot to mention the snow all around the house, no tracks at all indicating it comes and goes.
He had three removed about five years ago. Starting to wonder if this was a leftover that has lived off of cat food and water.
There are two cat liter boxes in the house that could account for very limited feces.
Going to check them tomorrow and examine, by hand, everything in them.

mtncat that sounds like a nightmare haha.
Well I went there too the house and there was nothing in the attic. We had a fresh snow on outside so it was easy to track down the skunk(s). I think there was 3 but I couldn't tell. Either way it was easy to find where they were going under her house and I went in the crawl space and set some live traps. Hopefully I've got them today. Also there was some sort of track that appeared to be stalking or following the skunks. It looked like cat prints only with like a 16" stride. Most cats I seen don't have over a 12" stride so that kind of puzzled me a little..

I have had one in the attic, and a couple in the insulation up on shelves at the ceiling in garages. also have has a skunk or two up on boxes. The one in the attic, I thought the lady was nuts till I got there and yep, there it was. that skunk climbed the inside of the insulation against the wall and went in the attic by way of a hole letting wires through into Garage. the ones on the shelves did the same thing. I guess. if they can get against the wall and under the insulation they can climb as long as the insulation does not tear loose from the staples holding it in the studs. that's only a few since the early 80's, not many, and I would not believe it if I did not see it, that is for sure. I had a ground hog sitting in a bath room, to still cant figure out how that got there LOL

Although the odds are against it, don't count it out. I had one in the attic last year. It got in the garage one night and after the homeowner shut the overhead door the skunk tried like [Please excuse my language... I'm an idiot] to get out. There was an opening at the bottom of the chimney chase and the skunk climbed 2 floors up and got into the attic. Put a trap in the attic and 2 days later the homeowner call and we had the skunk caught in the attic.

I was agreeing with Paul until the rest of you told your stories. Then I remembered a call in a trailer court years ago. The fella smelled a strong odor of skunk in his mobile home. He had dumped a crap load of moth balls under the trailer and I believe there was rat poison also. I set a couple traps and had a skunk the next day. So he calls me back a couple days later and say's," you need to get back here I'am still smelling skunk."
The funny thing was, it was in the winter and it always smelled stronger when the furnace kicked on. I had my kid with me, a teenager, so he's outside and say's, dad it smells real strong over here," and it did. I wasn't real keen on peeling open his trailer like a tuna can to investigate it. So I had the owner do it, He jumped like a son of a gun when he saw that mummified skunk in the wall.
You would have to be a trapper on another level to get that one to walk into a trap....
I told the guy something to that effect.

Well I made the mistake of running out of ADC skunk bait. I set 3 live traps and during normal trapping season I can't keep skunks out of my dp's and I use dog food and salmon oil so I tried that in my live traps along with one with a tainted bait I use for foxes and the skunks tracks went right up to my live traps but then turned around. What did I do wrong? Is it the bait or were they just not hungry?

I caught a skunk in an attic last summer. The thing walked in the garage door and right up the pull down ladder (I assume).

She was the happiest customer on earth when I came down with that skunk. All I heard the whole time was "I told you so". On that note sometimes its best to not tell the customer "there is no way a skunk is in your attic" before you actually come and investigate.

Friend called and said he had some under his house several years ago. He had several out buildings. We caught 16.

Friends son had them under his house and got a trap yesterday. Stopped by his house and showed him how to set. He said he checked last night at 9:20 and had one. Reset trap and had another this morning.

Where he is and the way the house has a crawl space he should catch quite a few.

Kirk De are you using bait or what?

Just set the trap where they were going in and out and blocked it with concrete blocks. Simple set. I will try and show picture. It was an old house.

As I said, simple set. Just put pine straw on bottom of trap.