Skunks ...do they or don't they....

eat tulip,daffodil,hyancinths bulbs ?

For about 2 weeks now we have a skunk right outside of our kitchen windows eating birdseeds.
But I have alot of springbulbs out there,also several peonies and 12 daylilies.

I have read that they don't eat the bulbs other reports say they do ? what is right ? and if they do eat my bulbs what can I do to deterr them.We have a live trap sitting out there now but if I can use something else to chase him away I will.
Any ideas ?
Thank you.
PS:we caught 49 squirrels in the live traps and relocated them.....we have MORE now that we live in the city than when we lived on the farm.

I don't know what they eat but I do know they spray. I wouldn't trap them because there is no way you could go near the trap if one was caught. You would get sprayed. It is very nasty stuff.

Thanks for telling us :-).....but we know that firsthand,my husbands brother had been sprayed when he was a child and the stories are still being told.
**
Then he was trapped a few days ago,evidently didn't feel threatened and didn't spray my husband.I saw him first but told my husband since HE is the one catching the little critters to get out of my gardens HE had to release him.We'll he did but that little critter came back last night.
**
So back to my question.Will they eat my bulbs ? can anyone help ?

We (me, DH and crazy ole cat) cohabitated with Peppy and Peppermint Skunk this summer when they decided to move in under my garden shed. They dug a bit for grubs and beetles but didn't eat any bulbs and didn't do any damage to plants or containers. I did put out spent fruit and veggies for them occasionaly near their den though just to encourage them not to dig. When we saw each other we would just move away from each other and I was careful to sing or whistle if I was padding around quietly in my bare feet at night so they knew where I was. Peppy and Peppermint moved in late summer while we were on vacation. I think it was because they no longer had a source of water as my catsitter didn't fill the bird baths.

Not specifically up on skunks, but in general critters don't touch daffies, scillas, chionodoxa, puschkinia, but tulips and crocuses are in danger!

our skunk is all white on top and black on the bottom
isnt he different! he sure is messing up my yard eating grubz!

dahlianut,
that sounds like my husband and I would do and actually have because the skunk lives under the stonesteps of the old carriage house already.A couple of nights ago our cat Foggy snarled and cried in a very high pitched voice...like a little tiger...sure enough the skunk was out there.

quiltjean,
thanks for the heads up.I planted lots of tulips yesterday and also have some in the ground from spring,so far not much damage from the spring planting.Haven't planted my daffs yet so they will be save :-)

notmartha,
he is so cute,I haven't seen one in that coloring at all because we had some skunks out at the farm hanging around.
One time we saw a mother with 2 small babies hopping along beside her.OMG I wish I would have had a camera because it was adorable.

Neat skunk notmartha!

Dahlianut,

I think you're the sweetest person in the world to welcome your skunks. Most people around here freak out and try to have them removed aka killed. One was coming to the yard for my tomatoes but stopped once I removed the tomatoes at the end of the season.

Happily, Milky Spore last fall took careof the grubs - GONE!

Donna

Donna I grew up in the NE near Toronto so am quite used to skunks. They are not aggressive but defensive so very easypeasy to cohabitate with IMPO if you are careful not to surprise them. DH was VERY nervous about the whole experience though LOL. I just think it was wonderful to have 'wildlife' in my urban garden besides birds and Boris and Natasha the jackrabbits. Secretly I was hoping for babies and even picked out names but alas not