Skunks ravaging P.E.I. lawns

Homeowners in central P.E.I. are frustrated by marauding skunks that have been ripping up large portions of their lawns looking for grubs.

The skunks have been digging up lawns in search of June bug larvae, and making an enormous mess of the grass in the process.

"This is what they're doing is prospecting for food," said Leigh Jenkins, who lives near Hazelbrook, east of Charlottetown.

"There's a lot of it around in the area. You'll drive by and see a lot of lawns torn up."

It's unclear whether there are more skunks around this fall or if the availability of grubs on lawns is making that choice more attractive for them. But everyone agrees the damage the skunks are causing this year is like nothing they've ever seen before.

More than a quarter hectare of Gordon Carver's lawn has been devastated. In the past three weeks he's spent more than $500 on chemicals to try to kill the grubs and discourage the skunks. But it hasn't worked.

"I don't know what to think. I do not," said Carver.

"I'll just have to leave it I guess until the spring comes."

Randy Cameron runs a lawn care company in Queen's County, and he has seen the problem all over. He suggests cayenne pepper on the lawn can be a deterrent, but the only solution that he knows will work is replacing the lawn.

"Excavate the area where it's been ripped up and get rid of the grubs and get rid of the soil, and then we put new soil and new sod down," said Cameron.

Some people are trying to trap the skunks but it's not working. With ready availability of grubs in people's lawns, the skunks just aren't hungry enough to enter the traps.