Trapper helps get rid of pests

SKUNK TRAP: Bob Hassel of Animal Nuisance Control gets rid of skunks.

Skunk season has begun, and the critters are raising their tails, mating and spraying under houses in numbers not seen in a couple years, said Bob Hassel, the owner of Animal Nuisance Control in Cottonwood.

"They know where those houses are. Folks need to be aware: Here we go again," Hassel said.

While thousands of skunks live in the valley of Shasta and Tehama counties, Hassel warned that recent rains have flushed them out of their homes and they are taking refuge in crawl spaces under houses, Hassel warned.

The skunk's mating season begins around Christmas, peaks in February and ends abruptly at the beginning of March, said Hassel, a 16-year veteran of wild animal control. With little rain during those months in recent years, Hassel did not have many calls for skunk removal last year. He only removed eight skunks from under houses during the 2009 season.

This year, though, the skunks are back in large force and raising quite a stink.

Hassel had already removed 60 skunks by Feb. 2, and he expects a "normal" skunk season this year with calls to remove more than 150 by mid-March.

Male skunks are to blame for establishing den sites, Hassel said. Once that happens, anywhere from eight to 28 females will seek out the den, he said. The male then returns to the dens to mate with the females in his harem, Hassel said.

The spraying probably comes from the younger females that are surprised and frightened by the male's sudden aggressiveness during mating season, Hassel said, adding that sometimes skunks breed under a house without ever spraying.

Currently, three families are living in hotel rooms because their home was so overcome by the smell, he said.

Charging $70 to set up his traps and an additional $70 per skunk removed, Hassel recommended the following easy fixes to keep a house skunk-free.

• Repair plate-line vents. Broken or open vents at the base of a house are the number-one reason skunks can take-up residence under a home. "Skunks will find them," Hassel said.

• Whether left open by an electrician or other repairman, forgetting to close crawl space vents is the second most common culprit, Hassel said.

• The piping from ground air conditioning units to a home usually feature a shroud around the pipe where it meets the house. Often, the bottom part of the shroud is not secured properly.

Not only a skunk removal service, Hassel deals with trapping of moles, squirrels, rattlesnakes, bats and beavers.