Something is living under my front porch!

[daughtersrus]

We have a concrete porch on the front of our house. It's not big, maybe 12x4 and one step off of the ground. We have landscaping around the porch so there is dirt around two sides and the house foundation on the other two sides. We

We're not sure if it's possum, raccoon or skunk. Our first step was to fill in the hole it made. We've tried soaking a rap in ammonia and shoving it under only to wake up with the rag laying outside of the hole that they dug again. We placed larger rocks and bricks around the porch and covered them with dirt. Whatever it is is strong enough to push the rock or brick out of the way so that they can dig to get back in.

Any suggestions besides calling an extermination company?

 

[HannaBelle]

Okay, I have zero experience with this, but...

I know we can borrow animal traps from the city for free to trap unwanted creatures or cats. I would try that first and ask them what they suggest. Maybe put some fruit in the trap?

I know you can buy gopher poison "cones" to poke in gopher holes to kill gophers, but then you are just going to have a dead stinky thing under the porch!

 

[lynxstch]

Could also be a groundhog..we had a big one living under our shed a couple years ago, guy next door put a trap out for it and caught it and took it away somewhere (I didn't want to know where), our neighbor had one that had babies under her porch, she called some guy from the county who came out and set traps and then took them away. Good luck getting rid of whatever is living under your porch!

 

[snapppyd]

Raccoons are very strong, could be one. We had one eat/tear holes in our roof looking for a squirrel nest. VERY expensive to have the roof fixed.

I would call animal control (if you have such a thing in your town). If not, call a critter control company.

Good luck!

 

[scrapquitler]

We have a concrete porch on the front of our house. It's not big, maybe 12x4 and one step off of the ground. We have landscaping around the porch so there is dirt around two sides and the house foundation on the other two sides. We

We're not sure if it's possum, raccoon or skunk. Our first step was to fill in the hole it made. We've tried soaking a rap in ammonia and shoving it under only to wake up with the rag laying outside of the hole that they dug again. We placed larger rocks and bricks around the porch and covered them with dirt. Whatever it is is strong enough to push the rock or brick out of the way so that they can dig to get back in.

Any suggestions besides calling an extermination company?

Throw a box of mothballs under there, many critters dislike the smell and will stay away.

Most of the critters also don't like noise. You can keep try keeping them away by putting a small radio on the porch, playing at a very low volume on a talk station (just enough to make them think people are nearby). My Mom's landlord keeps a radio on in the shed and it has helped a lot.

 

[HM]

We had a rabbit living under our back deck. Chewed through the lattice to get in.

 

[j's m]

Throw a box of mothballs under there, many critters dislike the smell and will stay away.

Most of the critters also don't like noise. You can keep try keeping them away by putting a small radio on the porch, playing at a very low volume on a talk station (just enough to make them think people are nearby). My Mom's landlord keeps a radio on in the shed and it has helped a lot.

Tried the mothballs for the groundhog living under our deck. It didn't bother the groundhog but I forgot the vent for our stove top was under the deck. The smell of the mothballs was so strong in our kitchen, we had to totally cover the vent for weeks.

 

[deedeetoo]

I know we can borrow animal traps from the city for free to trap unwanted creatures or cats. I would try that first and ask them what they suggest. Maybe put some fruit in the trap?

Be careful with this. We were trying to rid our yard of groundhogs and trapped a skunk instead. Think about that. We ended up using a broom handle to open the door and let it go out. Fortunately it didn't spray us in the process.

 

[daughtersrus]

I know we can borrow animal traps from the city for free to trap unwanted creatures or cats. I would try that first and ask them what they suggest. Maybe put some fruit in the trap?

Be careful with this. We were trying to rid our yard of groundhogs and trapped a skunk instead. Think about that. We ended up using a broom handle to open the door and let it go out. Fortunately it didn't spray us in the process.

I called animal control for our village today. They said that it's likely a possum or a skunk because racoons don't like to dig, they prefer to climb trees.

They said that we could request a trap. We have to provide bait (a can of tuna or cat food), the wood for it to sit on and a piece of wood to cover it and keep whatever we catch calm. They will come and get the critter as long as it's not a skunk. If it's a skunk, it's up to us to release it somewhere safe.
I have a feeling it may be a skunk. A few weeks ago, we woke up to a horrible skunk smell in our house and our windows were shut.

 

[rodeo65]

Our house had a skunk family living under our concrete porch before we moved in a few years ago. The last homeowner had it trapped and removed and then had someone put wire mesh around the porch so nothing could get back underneath. We've been here four years and so far, so good.

 

[mom2rtk]

racoons don't like to dig, they prefer to climb trees.

I can certainly vouch for that. Our sons' window is next to a flat roof area, next to a huge old tree. Recently a pair of raccoons has been showing up at their window in the middle of the night. Scared the CRAP out of them since they're on the second floor. And drove the cats CRAZY!

 

[EMode]

I called animal control for our village today. They said that it's likely a possum or a skunk because racoons don't like to dig, they prefer to climb trees.

They said that we could request a trap. We have to provide bait (a can of tuna or cat food), the wood for it to sit on and a piece of wood to cover it and keep whatever we catch calm. They will come and get the critter as long as it's not a skunk. If it's a skunk, it's up to us to release it somewhere safe.
I have a feeling it may be a skunk. A few weeks ago, we woke up to a horrible skunk smell in our house and our windows were shut.

I'd be calling a private pest control place then. It may be pricey but if you are dealing with a skunk it may be well worth it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I'd be calling a private pest control place then. It may be pricey but if you are dealing with a skunk it may be well worth it.

I second this.

 

[Luvchefmic]

I agree call in a professional you have no idea what it could be under there and they'll be able to determine what and how to get it to be evicted

 

[North of Mouse]

We have a concrete porch on the front of our house. It's not big, maybe 12x4 and one step off of the ground. We have landscaping around the porch so there is dirt around two sides and the house foundation on the other two sides. We

We're not sure if it's possum, raccoon or skunk. Our first step was to fill in the hole it made. We've tried soaking a rap in ammonia and shoving it under only to wake up with the rag laying outside of the hole that they dug again. We placed larger rocks and bricks around the porch and covered them with dirt. Whatever it is is strong enough to push the rock or brick out of the way so that they can dig to get back in.

Any suggestions besides calling an extermination company?

Oh boy, can I understand what you are going through - LOL. We lived in a subdivision in MD and I made a flower bed around our porch - just like the one you describe. One morning we had this big pile of dirt and a hole under our porch - filled it in - same thing for several mornings - threw some moth balls in the hole before filling it - next morning all the moth balls were thrown out.
Finally, one morning, saw our culprit calmly sitting on the railing washing his face!! It was a GROUNDHOG!!

Called animal control and they brought a trap out and told us to bait it with fruit. We did, caught him, called animal control, and they took him away somewhere and released him. Almost felt sorry for him sitting in the cage looking so forlorn!

I imagine you have the same kind of animal!! Good luck!!

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Be careful with this. We were trying to rid our yard of groundhogs and trapped a skunk instead. Think about that. We ended up using a broom handle to open the door and let it go out. Fortunately it didn't spray us in the process.

Buddy of mine had what he thought was a sure-fire way to get the skunk under his house. Set a live trap by the hole with a 50-foot rope tied to it. He then stretched the rope out in the yard. That way, when the skunk was trapped, he could go to the end of the rope - 50 feet from the trap - and slowly drag the trap out into the yard away from the house & then shoot the skunk.

So, sure enough, the skunk goes into the trap and trips the door. But, then the skunk discovered the rope tied to the cage & reeled all 50-feet of that rope up into the cage with him

 

[Luvchefmic]

Buddy of mine had what he thought was a sure-fire way to get the skunk under his house. Set a live trap by the hole with a 50-foot rope tied to it. He then stretched the rope out in the yard. That way, when the skunk was trapped, he could go to the end of the rope - 50 feet from the trap - and slowly drag the trap out into the yard away from the house & then shoot the skunk.

So, sure enough, the skunk goes into the trap and trips the door. But, then the skunk discovered the rope tied to the cage & reeled all 50-feet of that rope up into the cage with him

Why shoot the skunk ? Why not just release it somewhere else ? This is why I suggested with others to call in a professional company they trap & release unless it's sick or something Maybe there was a family with that skunk ?

My family hunts, I eat meat just in case anyone thinks that's the mindset I'm coming from that nothing should ever be killed

I just don't see the sense in this scenario