How Much Does Skunk Removal Cost? [2024 Data]

Skunks might look cute, but they can also emit terrible odors, carry diseases, and rip up your property. If you’ve got skunks roaming your yard or one that your dog seems determined to provoke into spraying, your best bet may be to get rid of them. Skunk removal costs between $300 and $600, with most homeowners paying an average of $450. Your total cost depends on several factors, including location, type, and quantity of skunks on your property. Our guide will cover all the ins and outs of skunk removal costs.

Skunk Removal Cost Factors

If you’re trying to get rid of skunks, you’ll need to consider several cost factors, including types and location:

Number of Animals

Single Skunk Removal

You can expect to pay between $300 and $325 to remove a single skunk from an accessible area, such as your garage or along your fence line. This cost includes:

1. Property inspection

2. Setting a live trap with bait

3. Safely collecting the trap

4. Relocating the skunk at least 5 miles away to a safe, designated area

Multi-Skunk Removal

Because of the complexity of multi-skunk removal, you’ll pay up to $600 to remove multiple skunks from your property. When a family or numerous skunks live within one den, a wildlife pro will need to set several live traps and continually check on and relocate the traps to remove all of the skunks humanely. 

Complex Single Skunk Removal

You can expect to pay up to $450 for a difficult single skunk removal. When a skunk is in an inaccessible area, such as under a deck or in a crawl space, it will take more time and effort to trap and relocate the critter. 

Dead Skunk Removal

You’ll pay between $150 and $250 for a pro to remove a dead skunk from your property. While it may seem simple, you should always have a wildlife professional remove a deceased skunk because it may be carrying a disease that could be harmful to your family and pets. 

Emergency Skunk Removal

Pest control costs between $108 and $261, so you can expect to pay anywhere from $375 to $700 for emergency skunk removal (nights, weekends, after-hours, and holidays). You can call in an emergency if there’s a sick skunk on your property and you’re worried it might have rabies or if you’ve trapped a skunk and it’s destroying your property in an attempt to escape. 

Location

Your total skunk removal cost will also depend on where the skunk is nesting. Skunks prefer to make their dens in dark, quiet places—making crawl spaces, basements, sheds, garages, and underneath decks perfect nesting areas. Yet, the more difficult it is to reach the skunk, the more a wildlife professional will likely charge. You can expect to pay $600 or more to remove a skunk in a hard-to-reach den, which takes more time and effort. 

Ongoing Skunk Removal Costs

Unfortunately, removing a skunk from the premises doesn’t always solve the problem. 

Repairs

Although skunks don’t typically cause extensive damage to your home and property, if left unchecked, they can cause severe damage to your siding, foundation, and more. Here are the average costs for repairs from skunk damage:

• Lawn cleanup and repair: $190–$1,000

• Siding repair: $3–$15 per sq. ft.

• Foundation repair: $2,167–$7,804

• Crawl space repair: $6,000

• Deck/porch repair: $860–$3,364

Sanitizing

Depending on the extent of the skunk infestation around your home, you’ll need to properly sanitize and disinfect the area so that skunks don’t find their way back via their sense of smell. Focus on cleaning the den, feeding areas, crawl space, and basement. Usually, wildlife removal costs include cleaning and disinfecting the area—and you can expect to pay between $190 and $588 for this service.

Removal of Skunk Smell

Once you remove a skunk from your property, you’ll probably want to know how to get rid of the skunk smell. Skunk smell can permeate your home, leaving its mark on carpets, walls, air vents, furniture, clothing, and more. Wildlife removal companies will often charge an additional fee of $100 on top of their services to professionally remove the skunk smell from your home. 

If the smell is unbearable, you can call an odor removal service near you—and expect to pay between $200 and $1,000. Otherwise, you can go the DIY route and remove the skunk smell yourself by following these steps:

• Make your own household cleaners with distilled vinegar, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide.

• Steam clean carpets and drapes.

• Wash affected clothing in hot water with laundry detergent and a 1/2 cup of baking soda. 

• Air out the entire house and place doused furniture outside.

• Clean the walls with a mixture of bleach and water.

• Leave bowls of distilled vinegar out to absorb unwanted skunk odors.

• Change the air filters. 

Prevention

Once you’ve removed skunks from your property, you’ll want to ensure they don’t return by patching holes in fences and completing other repairs. You can hire a handyperson near you to set up preventative measures for $40 to $140 per hour, or you can try to tackle some yourself. Here are some preventive measures to keep skunks away from your home:

Signs You May Have a Skunk Problem

The first indication that you have skunks is that telltale smell—and unfortunately, it can linger for weeks. You may not know what types of skunks are around either, so you won't know whether a skunk is vegging out under your porch unless you notice these other signs that skunks are afoot:

• Your garbage cans are raided for food.

• A critter is eating your plants and munching on bushes. 

• Your pet gets sprayed by a scared skunk.

• You find holes in your lawn and garden beds.

• You see 5-toed paw print tracks.

• You see tubular-shaped droppings.

DIY Skunk Removal vs. Hiring a Pro

Photo: geoffkuchera / Adobe Stock

Before you attempt to remove a skunk yourself, you’ll need to contact your local fish and wildlife office to see whether it’s legal to catch and relocate a skunk. If you have approval, you’ll need to pay for a live trap ($25 to $100), bait, gloves, protective eyewear, and long-sleeve clothing. You could also try the flour, plywood, and sandbag method for around $100 to $200. For this, the flour goes in front of the entrance of the skunk den so you can see when they’ve left, and then you'll use the plywood and sandbags to block off the entrance. 

Even if you can remove skunks yourself, calling a skunk removal company near you is best. The last thing you want is to get sprayed by a skunk. Pros come prepared with the knowledge and proper equipment to humanely and safely trap and relocate a skunk. Also, because skunks can carry diseases such as rabies, you shouldn’t attempt to catch and relocate them without the proper attire and experience. 

How to Reduce Skunk Removal Costs

While the price for humanely trapping and removing a skunk won’t change, there are things you can do to reduce the cost when removing skunks from your property, including:

• Get at least 3 quotes from licensed skunk removal companies.

• Make your home undesirable for skunks: Get rid of outside food, close garbage cans, and secure birdfeeders.

• Make a DIY repellent spray and frequently spray it around your property.

• Mow the lawn to reduce the number of bugs in the grass—insects are like a feast for skunks.

How Angi Gets Its Cost Data

Home is the most important place on earth, which is why Angi has helped more than 150 million homeowners transform their houses into homes they adore. To help homeowners with their next project, Angi provides readers with the most accurate cost data and upholds strict editorial standards. We extensively research project costs to develop the pricing data you see, so you can make the best decisions for you and your home. We rely on reputable sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, academic journals, market studies, and interviews with industry experts—all to ensure our prices reflect real-world projects. 

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