Should I ever poison a skunk?

If you want to kill a skunk without getting sprayed, then you should be at a good distance to do so. This means that you could choose to shoot a skunk using a rifle. As a homeowner, you do not wish to discharge the firearm in the yard if you have close neighbors. You also have to make sure that the muscles in its body relax, and this includes those that control the scent glands. Even if spraying may not take place all the time, it happens quite often. You will have a better chance of not being sprayed if you trap the skunk and relocate it. Trapping is not hard to do. If you have information about the skunk, then you will understand that it is not aggressive and it is shy. This makes it easy to trap it. After you purchase a cage trap down at your local garden center, you may set the device up in the yard where you have seen a skunk. Then you should cover its top and sides using a tarp. It will eliminate scary visual stimuli when the skunk has been trapped and prevents you from being sprayed.



You may try out using poison to kill skunks. However, you should know that it is often illegal and it comes with many risks. Using poison is painful and inhumane to the animals. Sometimes it may end up killing cats and dogs in its place when they eat it accidentally.

There are many types of skunk poisons:

An anticoagulant is a rat poison that includes bromadiolone, brodifacoum, difenacoum and warfarin. These are used normally to kill mice and rats, and they are known as rodenticides. Anticoagulants may damage capillaries and they will cause internal bleeding. This process may take a few days, and it is painful to the animal. In the end, the animal will die because of hypovolemic blood shock.

Antifreeze is a product made with ethylene glycol. The liver will metabolize ethylene glycol in oxalate and glycolate, and it may lead to extensive cellular damage in the tissues in the kidneys and others. After the initial stage of vomiting and muscle twitches, the liver, kidney and heart failure will lead to death.

Bromethalin is a new type of rat poison that attacks the nervous system and leads to limb ataxia, hyperthennia and death in just 36 hours.

Cholecalciferol is another type of rat poison. It produces the hypercalcemia that results in systematic calcification of the soft tissue, and it leads to renal failure and death within 24 to 36 hours.

Strychnine does cause muscular convulsions and it leads to death from sheer exhaustion and asphyxia.

The best method is shooting the skunk or killing it using a lethal trap. In these cases, you will not be sprayed. Another tactic is to trap and relocate the skunk when it is alive. This is easier than it may sound, and the sprays will be rare. When you know what to do, then you are not going to be sprayed.

You may also want to read:

  • Why a Humane Approach to Skunk Control
  • What are some ways to kill a skunk in the yard?
  • Will a pest control company remove a skunk?
  • Skunk Prevention Tips: How to Keep Skunks Away
  • Skunk Trapping: How To catch a Skunk


  • Go back to the Skunk Removal home page or email us for more info about Should I ever poison a skunk?