Skunk? or some other animal digging under foundation of house

[Ceee]

My lawn guys spread out a pile of dirt near a hole under the foundation of my house similar to the one in the pic several weeks ago, when the temps got very low at night. Everything was great for a while, and then the pile showed up again. I've had a skunk in the general vicinity before, but that's been many years ago. I guess that's why I think it's a skunk. Maybe it's something else. We do have armadillos and opossums.

I did some reading and sprinkled some lemon grass oil and some cat litter. Somehow I don't think that's going to work.

Any advice or experiences?
I kind of hate to pay the money for a professional if there's something I can do on my own.

 

[m1west]

If you don't have pets, you can put some poison pellets for ground squirrels and moles in the hole, the problem will go away

 

[FrancSevin]

My lawn guys spread out a pile of dirt near a hole under the foundation of my house similar to the one in the pic several weeks ago, when the temps got very low at night. Everything was great for a while, and then the pile showed up again. I've had a skunk in the general vicinity before, but that's been many years ago. I guess that's why I think it's a skunk. Maybe it's something else. We do have armadillos and opossums.

I did some reading and sprinkled some lemon grass oil and some cat litter. Somehow I don't think that's going to work.

Any advice or experiences?
I kind of hate to pay the money for a professional if there's something I can do on my own.

HOT SAUCE.

Armadillos don't cover the hole.

Skunks, raccoons and possums do.

Clear the dirt and put hot sauce and chili pepper around the area and the hole.

Poison peanuts (yes that's what they are called a Lowe's) will kill the critter but then you will have the smell. The only thing that smell worse than a dead skunk is a dead armadillo

 

[Ceee]

If you don't have pets, you can put some poison pellets for ground squirrels and moles in the hole, the problem will go away

HOT SAUCE.

Armadillos don't cover the hole.

Skunks, raccoons and possums do.

Clear the dirt and put hot sauce and chili pepper around the area and the hole.

Poison peanuts (yes that's what they are called a Lowe's) will kill the critter but then you will have the smell. The only thing that smell worse than a dead skunk is a dead armadillo

Thanks to both of you.
I don't have any outside pets, so I'll look at the poison pellets/peanuts.
I don't really even care about the smell. I just don't want the varmint to cause problems with the foundation.

 

[EastTexFrank]

I'd advise putting out a game camera to find out what you are dealing with. I usually trap possums, racoons and feral cats that are making a pest of themselves and take them down the back 40 for rehabilitation. I mentioned the camera because I did trap a skunk once but that's a whole other story.

Franc is right about armadillos stinking. I've shot a couple that have run up under the deck around the office and died. They smell really bad for about 3 or 4 days and I mean BAD.

 

[300 H and H]

Get a "have a heart" live trap and bait it with peanut butter.
Works on Skunks, racoons, ground hogs and possums as well.
When you catch it you can decide what you want to do with the critter.
My daughter has caught two skunks in the past weeks. It is breeding season for them here now.

 

[Ceee]

I bought some poison pellets/peanuts and some repellant.
I'm going to try the repellant first, which is not toxic.
I don't have any outside cats/dogs, but some of my neighbors do. Some of their dogs are escape artists and frequently get out of their fenced areas. I'm not sure if I can run the risk of having one of their pets ingesting those pellets.

If all that fails, I'll try the trap method.

 

[Ceee]

Thanks to all for the advice.
Just a little update.

After Franc suggested chili pepper, I went out Sunday afternoon and liberally sprinkled ground cayenne pepper over the area. I checked it the next morning, and no movement/no digging. Monday morning I sprinkled on some repellant. Kept checking...no movement/no digging.

I figured last night was the true test since the temps were down in the 20's. Of course I don't know, but just figured some critter was digging down in there to have some shelter from the cold. Whatever it was seems to be gone...fingers crossed.

 

[Gary O']

Get a "have a heart" live trap and bait it with peanut butter.

Works quite well
Peanut butter is theee best

 

[kc3tec]

We had a problem with groundhogs, my wife likes to use the pushmower for exercise and broke her ankle in one of the holes.
She required surgery to stablize her ankle.

Took care of the groundhogs with an air rifle,
Neighbor boy used the carcases for fox bait.

After that i purged the holes with gopher bombs anf filled the holes with rocks befor covering them with soil.