Request a Quote

Home/Skunks

Skunk Removal in Lafayette

Last reviewed September 8, 2026 against LDWF published rules and federal statute. How we research this site.

Skunks den under porches, decks and sheds, and you usually know about it before you see one.

Lafayette specifically

Raised piers give a skunk a dry, enclosed, defensible space directly under the floor. It is the single most common place to find one here, and the hardest place to work.

Skunks in Lafayette Parish: who does what

Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries is explicit that it does not remove nuisance wildlife. It permits individuals to do it for a fee. A Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator permit is issued to a person rather than a company, every individual doing the work must hold one in their own name, and getting it requires a Louisiana trapping licence, a basic hunting licence, and 80 per cent on the department's exam. The permit also lists exactly which animals may be taken, raccoon, squirrel, opossum, skunk, armadillo, beaver and nutria among them.

The Louisiana Department of Health identifies an area centred on Lafayette Parish as one of the two main areas of skunk rabies in Louisiana over the past twenty years.

For identifying an animal or damage before anyone is paid to look, the LSU AgCenter, Lafayette Parish office is at 1010 Lafayette Street, Suite 325, Lafayette, LA 70501 (office page).

What Louisiana law says about skunks

A licensed property owner may trap or shoot a skunk proven to be causing damage, year-round in daylight, without a permit. Skunks are rabies vectors in LDWF’s rules, and operators may not relocate one: it must be euthanized within 12 hours. The only land-animal rabies variant known to circulate in Louisiana is the southern skunk variant. All Louisiana rules →

Sources: Louisiana Department of Health: rabies annual report 2023; Louisiana Administrative Code Title 76 (wildlife and fisheries); Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, Nuisance Wildlife Control and Removal. Checked October 2026.

A striped skunk beside a hole dug under deck lattice
Illustrative The fan of loose soil gives a skunk den away before the smell does.

Signs, and why they matter

  • The obvious: a persistent musky smell around a deck or crawlspace
  • Cone-shaped digs in the lawn where they have been hunting grubs
  • A burrow entrance at the edge of a porch, slab or shed
  • Rabies vector
  • Spray contaminating a crawlspace or HVAC intake, which is extremely difficult to remove

How removal works

Careful trapping (skunks spray when startled, so this genuinely is a job for someone who has done it before) followed by burying an exclusion barrier along the structure edge.

Cut-away of a one-way exclusion door fitted over an entry hole A wall in cross-section with the attic on the left and outside on the right. A hinged flap is fitted over the entry hole on the outer face. An animal pushes the flap open from inside and leaves; the flap falls shut behind it, and a stop below prevents it opening inwards, so the animal cannot get back in. INSIDE: ATTIC OR CRAWLSPACE OUTSIDE WALL STOP: IT ONLY SWINGS OUT HINGED AT THE TOP OUT: ONE WAY AND NEVER BACK IN
A one-way door lets the animal leave and not return, which is why sealing the hole is the last step, not the first.

Skunk questions

How much does skunk removal cost in Lafayette?

$300 – $550 typical, depending on access and whether young are present. After a long stay in an attic the cleanup is often the bigger bill (attic restoration).

Is there a wrong time of year to deal with skunks?

Worst in spring, when females den to give birth, and again in autumn as they look for somewhere to overwinter.

Who handles skunks in Lafayette Parish?

The Louisiana Department of Health identifies an area centred on Lafayette Parish as one of the two main areas of skunk rabies in Louisiana over the past twenty years.

Request a quote

We read every request and pass it to a licensed wildlife operator covering Lafayette where one is available. We are still building our list of operators here, so we cannot promise one is available or say how quickly they will respond.

We are an information and referral service, not a licensed wildlife control operator, and we may be paid for the introduction. You are never charged.

Request a quote from a licensed Louisiana operator

Tell us what is in your house. We read every request and pass it to a licensed wildlife operator covering Lafayette where one is available. We are still building our list of operators here, so we cannot promise one is available or say how quickly they will respond.

Request a Quote