Property Owners in Southeast Portland Fed Up with Increase in Skunk Activity
PORTLAND, OR – One neighborhood in Southeast Portland is dealing with a stinky problem: how skunks preparing for hibernation have made themselves at home in a most inconvenient way.
In Sellwood-Moreland, skunks are now a backyard nuisance as they are spraying pets, digging holes, and even getting inside homes as they prepare for winter hibernation.
“I’ve been getting just a lot of calls of (skunks) just trying to find resources,” Cody Huddelston, with Critter Defense PDX, says.
“The Sellwood area is close to a lot of green space, like the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge area,” Huddelston continued.
“It’s also on the Willamette River,” Huddelston said. “It being close to a river, a naturally occurring water source, they’re going to be staying close to there.”
Huddelston says the main source of skunk activity in yards comes from fruit and vegetable trees, offering a food and water supply. He suggests property owners address food left outside before figuring out how to humanely remove skunks.