Skunk advice

[Janknitz]

Around 2:30 a.m. my cell phone rang. It's always at my side, in part because it is also my alarm clock. It was my daughter who locked herself in the bathroom after she heard a squeak and went to investigate and smelled skunk IN THE HOUSE. She thought our dog had met a skunk again.

I went out to investigate and the house smelled terrible, but the dog was unskunked and (thankfully!) there was no skunk in the house. We are still yet to figure out if perhaps there is a skunk UNDER the house--it's raining very hard today and we are waiting for pest control guys to help us look.

My room was OK UNTIL our daughter called us out to investigate. As it happened, I had my bedside fan on (vestiges of old hot flashes). But then my husband (darn him!) left our bedroom door open while we were investigating, so our room stinks, too. (and all our clothes, all our furniture, our walls, etc. EWWWWW!!!!).

I did manage to go back to sleep and cpap helped, but I'm sure the filter is impregnated with skunk smell and my hose and mask, too. I have a feeling that I can wash it in vinegar and stink it right back up again until the smell dissipates in our house. At least when the dog got skunked and proceeded to rub herself against all of my living room furniture, we could clean that furniture and carpet. But this seems to have permeated every surface of our house. All day I've been sitting in my office stinking--if I walk out to do things elsewhere, the smell is strong in my office too. I just want to swim in a vat of vinegar and move to a new house and buy all new stuff.

Anyway, my question is that I have two extra filters. It will take a while to get more. Is there any way to wash the ResMed Airsense Auto Filters (in vinegar?) so I can rotate them out, or am I going to have to just buy a dozen or so? They are kind of papery, so I'm guessing they are not meant to be washable.

[Pugsy]

I have never seen the AirSense filter but I have washed my S9 white fine filter and it held up okay.
Not sure how many washings it could eventually withstand but I would suspect you could safely wash what you have at least until you can get some more.
I would be ordering some more for sure though.
I washed mine just as an experiment to see if it would fall apart immediately or not. It didn't fall apart and the washing did clean it up. I patted it dry gently between a couple of towels.

[grayghost4]

S9 and A10 filters are the same .. and they are washable ... mild soap or vinegar

[Goofproof]

You would think many air filters are washable, however not all are. Some air filters washing changes the size the size and flow properties of the filter media. I don't know about XPAP machine filters, but for the cost I won't be washing mine, they aren't that costly, compared to my health. Jim

P.S. I don't mind a little Skunk Purfume, as long as it's not too strong, opens the intake up.

[Janknitz]

Yeah, I ordered a dozen filters and a new hose so I can wash one and wear one (hose). I'm not a big a big fan of washing my hoses (I think it introduces more junk then anything else) but I didn't have a reserve slimline and needed one. I will say one advantage of not having any DME coverage anymore is that I can order off Amazon and even if it costs me more out of pocket, not having to deal with Crapria is PRICELESS.

Older daughter got sent home from her job in a medical office because she was too stinky to deal with patients. Said dog who had not been sprayed last night apparently decided it would be fun to roll in the skunk residue today, so she got a bath in Dawn dish detergent and hydrogen peroxide after all. Pest guys never showed up, so husband walked around in the pouring rain with a flashlight and checked the entire perimeter of the house and didn't see any sign of entry to the underneath. He also opened the crawl space (not a very nice place in the rain because we get runoff from houses higher up on the hill under our house that gets sump pumped out) and we don't have any critters underneath--THANK GOODNESS!!! We may have the Loch Ness monster down there, though, you never know.

Apparently it's skunk mating season, so we are hoping it was a one time only booty call by Pepe Le Pew. Still dont' get why it smells so bad IN our house, especially in the hallway which has no windows.

At least we have an excuse to go out to dinner!

[Goofproof]

Yeah, I ordered a dozen filters and a new hose so I can wash one and wear one (hose). I'm not a big a big fan of washing my hoses (I think it introduces more junk then anything else) but I didn't have a reserve slimline and needed one. I will say one advantage of not having any DME coverage anymore is that I can order off Amazon and even if it costs me more out of pocket, not having to deal with Crapria is PRICELESS.

Older daughter got sent home from her job in a medical office because she was too stinky to deal with patients. Said dog who had not been sprayed last night apparently decided it would be fun to roll in the skunk residue today, so she got a bath in Dawn dish detergent and hydrogen peroxide after all. Pest guys never showed up, so husband walked around in the pouring rain with a flashlight and checked the entire perimeter of the house and didn't see any sign of entry to the underneath. He also opened the crawl space (not a very nice place in the rain because we get runoff from houses higher up on the hill under our house that gets sump pumped out) and we don't have any critters underneath--THANK GOODNESS!!! We may have the Loch Ness monster down there, though, you never know.

Apparently it's skunk mating season, so we are hoping it was a one time only booty call by Pepe Le Pew. Still dont' get why it smells so bad IN our house, especially in the hallway which has no windows.

At least we have an excuse to go out to dinner!

Too bad we have invaded critters world, I just found out some took revenge on my GMC truck. they lunched on a engine compartment wire loom eating two wires in to, and doing other damage, I hope repairing the wires fixed it, the on board computer didn't like it, Rats or squirrels probably. Jim

[Janknitz]

We live in a suburban neighborhood on the edge of town. We've lived here 24 years without problems like this. We knew the skunks were around (they regularly become speed bumps on a nearby road in smelling distance) and they knew we were around, but we never bothered each other until the last two years or so. I guess the drought has pushed the population closer to humans seeking water, and now that it's time to build an ark they are looking for shelter. I sure hope they find their way back up the hills and away from us!

ETA, I think I need to pull out the boat and oars to get across the parking lot to go home! Sheesh!!!!!

[chunkyfrog]

We live just north of a suburban wilderness, so when the wind is right,
we can experience the sinus clearing effect of Nature's decongestant.
When I was 10, we had skunks visit under our porch for a short time.
My mother said that the honeybees in the wall of the house drove the skunks away.

[purple22]

Around here they say to wash the dog in tomato juice. I told animal control that I had been advised that one could put moth balls under the house and the skunk would vacate, they laughed. Said to put a trap with cat food, then call them when I had a skunk. Had a lot of happy cats who did not set off the trap door.

Best I heard was from a young man who was a Missionary Church of Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ, that is Mormon to the rest of the world. He said he had dealt with skunks under houses for a number of folks. Just get a blanket, crawl in their, throw the blanket over the skunk and drag it out.

He said when he finishes his mission he will train to do what his father does, a Sheriff in one of big counties in southern Utah. That is a place where a Sheriff might stop a car with some very bad people, and no help around for fifty miles. I think this young man has the attitude, and shoulders to be a Sheriff.

[nanwilson]

Jan
Tomato juice does work, daughter had to bath her dog in it to get rid of the smell... stupid dog tried to eat a skunk
good luck
Nan

[Catnapper]

The smell from a skunk killed on the highway cannot compare to the smell of the undiluted spray.

We live far enough in the country that our dogs have had encounters with skunks with the usual result. What has worked the best for us is to use Dawn detergent mixed with enzyme powder so it makes a paste. Rub that on the dog before adding water. The spray has an oily consistency and just washing it will spread it to more areas of the fur. We get the enzyme powder from the local pet store, and it goes by the name of Skunk Off. The powder works better than the solution that also goes by that name. You need the concentrated form. The enzyme breaks up the oily spray.

Good luck and you have my sympathy.

Catnapper - Joanie

[Jack Burton]

The crime scene cleaners use Ozone generators.
Its expensive but often covered by home insurance.

Maybe skunks are covered as well.

[Janknitz]

Peroxide and dawn dish soap works really well on the dog, and way less messy than tomato juice. Since our dog's first meeting with a skunk I always keep a bottle of peroxide around.

The sun is out today, we threw the windows wide open and the fans are blowing. Smell is still there, but it's dissipating. I don't feel as stinky today. I was so tired last night I fell asleep before I put my cpap on--that's only happened one other time in 7 years! Woke about 4:30 (as usual) thinking "something is not right"--but it took me a while to figure out what was missing.

In our area, it's ILLEGAL to trap a skunk without a certain kind of wildlife license. So we'd have had to call in expert help if they were under the house--thankfully not. I have seen skunktraps online which are long solid tubes--you don't want an open trap where the skunk can spray you.

[BlackSpinner]

Mythbusters did an episode on skunk dog washing. Tomato juice does not work, it only seems to work because your nose deadens to the smell. They recommended the peroxide and dish soap too.

I had lots of skunks too when I lived in Montreal. We lived near a canal that goes right through the city - lots of interesting wild life but walking the dog was always an adventure of "peak around the corner and see whether it is safe"

[Guest]

my neighbors said feminine hygiene products worked on their dogs.