Bobbi Dewitt said her family has been held hostage in their own home in Dumfries by a family of skunks for the past three days. Cell phone video they recorded shows the mother skunk and her babies hanging out near their front door, which has made it hard to avoid a whiff of their powerful stench.
“I don’t know if it’s the rain that is pushing them out, I don’t know if it’s their breeding season, but whatever it is, I am just ready to reclaim my house back,” said Dewitt.
She said she has lived in the Forest Park development in Dumfries for five years, but this is the first time she has noticed holes dug under her front stairs where she believes the family of skunks live during the daylight hours. But at night, they come out and wreak havoc – tearing up the trash, people’s plants and spraying anyone who dares come close.
“They are spraying up under the house so when the air conditioner system goes off, it travels through the whole entire home,” Dewitt said. "So now we have to change the filters, we have to wipe walls down, we have to shampoo carpet just to get the smell out.”
Meanwhile, Dewitt is taking steps to rid her home of these unwanted guests. However, she worries it will not be enough as many of her neighbors are dealing with the same nightmare.
“To eliminate it, everyone is going to have to do it collectively to seal up the steps so they won’t have anywhere to live,” she said. “All I want is to be able to come and go without having to watch my surroundings and hope and pray I don’t get sprayed.”
Dewitt said her homeowner’s association is still looking into the matter. In the meantime, she has contacted pest control and will spend hundreds of dollars out of her pocket to trap and remove the skunks.
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