The owner of a sporting goods retail store, located in a neighbourhood shopping centre in Saint-Jude, in the Saint-Hyacinthe region, called on our services after noticing, when the store opened on a May morning, an extremely pronounced skunk smell that permeated the entire sales area. The preliminary investigation quickly directed suspicions to the exterior perimeter of the building: a skunk had settled under the concrete slab of the rear delivery yard, taking advantage of a hollow space formed by the partial subsidence of the ground under the loading dock deck. In a commercial context, the presence of a skunk creates direct harm: customers are put off, employees are inconvenienced, and brand image is affected.
Identification of the focus of activity
The inspection conducted by our technicians made it possible to precisely locate the burrow under the access ramp of the loading dock, at the back of the building. Footprints in the mud around the quay and traces of scent concentrated in this place left no doubt. The skunk had taken advantage of an opening of about fifteen centimetres between the slab and a retaining wall. In Saint-Jude, a rural municipality in the Montérégie region with a predominantly agricultural area, built-up areas bordered by fields and woods are frequently exposed to wildlife that moves from neighbouring land to inhabited areas.
Our exterminator in Saint-Jude also checked the outdoor storage areas and organic waste bins of the store, which can be sources of attraction for skunks. Changes to waste management were recommended in parallel with the intervention.
Setting up the capture device
Given the commercial nature of the site and the need to minimize disruption to day-to-day operations, the traps were set up at the end of the day, after the business closed. Professional cage traps, fully covered and weighted to prevent overturns, have been placed at the entrance to the burrow with suitable baits. Morning delivery and unloading activities were able to continue normally, with the traps positioned out of the direct passage of trucks. Our skunk capture service is designed to adapt to the operational constraints of businesses.
The capture took place on the second night. A female skunk, probably in the lactation period given the season, was trapped. A thorough visual check of the burrow, using a flashlight and a flexible inspection camera, confirmed the absence of any cubs left inside before proceeding with the permanent closure of the space.
Odour neutralisation and remediation
The smell of a skunk spray in a commercial premises is a problem in its own right. The olfactory treatment consisted of two parts: an application of an enzymatic neutralizer to all the exterior surfaces near the burrow, and a diffusion of absorbent products based on activated bicarbonate inside the store during the night. An industrial fan was used to accelerate air circulation and evacuate residual volatile compounds. The next morning, the smell was imperceptible in the sales area. Additional decontamination and disinfection was carried out under the slab to treat the soil contaminated by secretions.
Final sealing and prevention plan
The opening under the loading dock was filled with shotcrete, supplemented by a tight-meshed mesh anchored across the entire width of the deck. A pest prevention plan was provided to the business manager, including a biannual inspection schedule of the outdoor perimeter and recommendations on food waste management. Nova Extermination offers this type of preventive support to all its commercial clients in order to reduce the likelihood of recurrence and protect their reputation with clients. A verification visit carried out three weeks after the intervention confirmed the absence of any new animal activity under the wharf. To consult other files of comparable achievements, see our previous intervention on a skunk in another commercial building.