West El Paso homeowner says skunks are invading neighborhood

Residents of a West Side neighborhood say they’ve got a stinky skunk problem. A homeowner told ABC-7 he’s spotted several of them in his backyard over the past month.

“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it actually,” said Carlos Prado, who lives on Ridgemont, just off Mesa street in the Crestmont Hills area. Prado is concerned because skunks can carry rabies and could potentially spread the disease by biting a person or pets in the neighborhood.

“Everybody is having problems with them. (People jogging) have told me, ‘I see two or three of them early in the morning when I come out here running around the park,'” Prado said.

The West El Paso homeowner said he found a skunk under this grill in the corner of his porch as he prepared to grill chicken. “I took the cover off and there was his big long tail and he just sat there,” Prado said, “I went into the house before it could spray me and called animal control.”

Prado and animal control set up a trap in his backyard, but have not been able to capture the animal. He said one of his neighbors told him she saw four skunks in her yard at the same time earlier this month.

Construction along Mesa street could be displacing the animals, Prado said. “There’s constant construction going on down there … they’re being displaced as was the case when we had squirrels all over the place.”

Prado said animal control officers told him skunks are very calm and docile animals. “Until they get confronted violently, then they’ll unleash hell on you,” Prado said.

The Humane Society’s national web site states skunks are attracted to garbage and pet food left out at night.

ABC-7 reached out to animal control to learn more about the extent of the problem and to find out if it has a solution to the problem. Animal control has not responded to our calls.