House Smells Like Skunk But No Skunk (6 Possible Reasons)

 

The smell of a skunk is not a good one.

If your home starts to smell like a skunk, you are very likely going to want to do something about it.

Luckily, there are a few things you can do to help you get rid of the smell, but the first issue is to find out what is causing it.

If your home smells like a skunk, but there are no skunks around, here are a few things that may be causing the trouble.

 

House Smells Like Skunk but No Skunk

 

Here are a few of the most common reasons your home may smell like a skunk, but you don’t have a skunk in your home.

 

1. Sewer Gas

 

The top reason people say they notice a skunk odor in their house is a sewer gas leak.

A sewer gas leak is a problem that needs to be dealt with right away as it is not safe to be in the home if sewer gas is coming into the house.

This smell will be rather strong, and you will likely notice it in your kitchen or your bathroom.

You should call the local natural gas provider entirely right away and let them know about the odor that you are smelling.

The biggest issue with a leak like this is that the gas that is leaking will be highly flammable.

If there is any potential that the gas could get near a spark, there will be a large explosion.

You will have to make sure that you have this issue dealt with immediately.

In fact, if you smell the skunk-like odor, it is best to leave the house and have it looked into before deciding whether or not it is a skunk.

If you happen to find a skunk in your yard as you are leaving, that is excellent news.

However, you will not want to spend much time investigating in case the issue is truly a gas leak.

 

2. Animal/Pet Sprayed by Skunk

 

Just because you don’t see a skunk right now does not mean that there wasn’t one around earlier.

In fact, if you have animals that live in your home, there is a good chance that one of them could have been sprayed by a skunk.

Another interesting story that we have come across is that there was a bird in a homeowner’s yard that a skunk had sprayed.

This bird was a larger bird, and it would perch on the homeowner’s roof and gutter throughout the day.

Every time the homeowner would walk past the window, they would get a smell of skunk that didn’t seem to go away.

This is because it took a long time for the bird to lose the scent of the spray that had happened to it.

Be aware of your surroundings both inside and outside the house to make sure that your own pet or a friendly yard critter is not carrying the skunk smell.

 

3. Skunks in the Area

 

You may know that you have not been sprayed by a skunk, but skunks don’t have to spray to smell.

Did you know that sometimes a skunk will smell and it has nothing to do with whether or not it has recently sprayed?

The entire body of the skunk tends to hold on to the odor, and if it simply walks past your home, you are very likely to catch a whiff of it.

The bad smell is enough to permeate through the home even if the skunk has simply walked past the house.

Again, it is a good idea to keep an eye on your general surroundings if you want to be sure that the skunk is not what is causing the issues.

 

4. Produce Gone Bad

 

Different types of food going bad can harbor different odors.

Essentially, you will have to know what bad milk or bad meat, or bad cheese smells like.

One of the most common reasons to smell a skunk-like odor in your home is that you have some produce that has gone bad.

Garlic tends to be one of the worst culprits when it comes to odor.

If your garlic is starting to sprout and take a new form, chances are it can smell a bit like a skunk.

Produce going bad is something that you should continually look out for.

Your fridge needs a deep clean at least once per month.

Take out the drawers that will hold the fruits and vegetables and wash them with warm soapy water.

If there was something that went bad during the course of the month, you can make sure that it gets cleaned up properly.

Leaving the residue in the bottom of the drawer is going to end up creating a smell that will eventually be hard to get rid of.

The cleaner you keep your fridge, the easier it is to keep the odor down in the house.

 

5. Skunk Cabbage Plant

 

Believe it or not, there is a plant that smells like a skunk.

If you are not much of a gardener, you could unknowingly have one of these growing in your yard.

The Skunk Cabbage Plant is a terrible smelling plant that gets its name because of the odor that it gives off.

The plant does not smell unless it is blooming, and it is not a poisonous plant.

The scientific reason the plant smells is that it will attract more pollinators because it smells.

There are many bees and flies that like this odorous plant and will come to feed on it.

However, since larger animals have a similar sense of smell to a human, they will avoid this plant more often than not.

This means you will end up getting quite a few of them around in a short period of time.

These plants tend to grow all year long and can even survive when it is quite cold.

Although you won’t want to damage or kill these plants just to improve your sense of smell, you need to be very careful as to where you place them.

It is not smart to put these plants in an area by a bedroom window or next to your patio.

You will not be able to enjoy the area quite as much if you continually have to question whether a skunk is around or not.

When removing the skunk cabbage, you may have a bit of work in front of you.

These plants tend to bury themselves in the mud a bit, and this results in the plant being tough to dig out.

They are quite strong, and you will want to ensure that you keep your hands protected so you don’t wind up smelling like a skunk trying to complete your gardening work.

 

6. Dead Animal in Wall

 

Last but certainly not least, it’s possible that you could have a dead animal in your wall.

This is probably one of the worst options on this list, except for the dangers that the sewer gas brings into the equation.

The dead animal in the wall does not have to be a skunk to smell like a skunk.

Sometimes the animal dying just happens to take on a skunk like odor, and you will have no choice but remove it from the wall.

Most of the time, you will need to find the area where the odor is the strongest and cut out a small portion of the wall.

Then you will have to repair the area of the wall using sheetrock and spackle and then repaint it.

Many people will call in an exterminator to handle this issue because it can be a bit gruesome to deal with.

Many times, the dead animal that has already started to smell could have bugs surrounding it.

If you are not good with this kind of thing, the combination of the sights and the smells may be a bit too much to take.

In addition, if you don’t know what you are doing, you could end up cutting more holes in the wall than you need to.

We highly recommend hiring a professional for this process as it will probably save you money in the long run, and it will undoubtedly save frustration.

 

Where Would a Skunk Live in a House?

 

Sometimes you will go through all of these potential scenarios and find that there is nothing that makes sense.

You may feel as though there is still a skunk that is causing this issue.

Knowing exactly where skunks live can help you narrow down the problem and get to the heart of the issue.

Skunks are typically going to look for food and water around humans.

This means that they may be living very close to your home without you being able to see them.

One of the most common places is under a porch or in a shed.

If you have a raised porch or deck on the front or back of your house, this will create a fine home for a skunk.

Of course, you will find that leaving doors to sheds, garages, and barns open is probably a poor idea.

You will want to try and avoid a skunk getting into your property because it can be very difficult to get them out.

Trying to get a skunk out of your home is quite a process and one that could leave quite a bit of odor behind.

There are some simple home remedies which you can use to get a skunk to find a new home.

Believe it or not, there are odors that a skunk cannot stand.

One of those odors is apple cider vinegar.

If you can place a rag with apple cider vinegar on it and then put it under the deck or the porch, chances are your skunks will go and find a new home.

This is a very natural way to let them know that you are not interested in providing some shelter for them.

Another option that works is some dirty kitty litter.

The kitty litter is going to be a bit more challenging to work with and collect, and that’s why we like the apple cider vinegar option the best.

 

Conclusion

Hopefully, you now have some ideas about what is causing these potential smells in your home.

Chances are a skunk doesn’t have anything to do with it, and it is merely another issue.

If you think that there is any chance it could be a sewer gas issue, be sure to have it handled right away.

This could end being a very dangerous situation and one that could cause a fire.

Luckily, there are some simple solutions and reasons behind these odors, and you can hopefully have your home back to normal in a matter of a few hours.