And I don't live in a rural area, I live in Bangor, Maine. There are four or five of them who hang out under my house and come out during the evening to frolic with my cats. I'm used to there being maybe one but this is really weird. The house has been skunked once and it's still foul. So far the cats are all fine, probably because they're all buddies.

Skunks love to eat their grubs (larvae) when they are in the underground stage. If your area is experiencing a beetle problem, that might be drawing the skunks. I say, ignore the smell and let them do their job!

Apparently, the skunks main predator here in our area is foxes. We have a wildlife area not far from us and people were complaining about the foxes several months ago. Mind you, the foxes weren't causing trouble, it's that they're loud as hell at night and sound like a screaming child! We'll someone contacted TN Wildlife and Fisheries and had the foxes moved to another site. As soon as they were moved out, the skunks came. The same folks who were complaining on the community message board about the foxes started in on skunks. My neighbor, who's in his 80's typed an epic response to this nonsense by saying "Well, what did you expect when you moved the foxes". Anyway, for several weeks we had skunk visitors in our back yard in the mornings. It got to the point that we had to look before letting the dogs outside. A couple weeks ago, I heard the foxes again, screeching out at night. Since that time, haven't seen a single skunk. Now, may just be a coincidence, but it's true! As for keeping the skunks away, any hot spices placed around the yard or, I've heard, human hair, will keep them away!

Problem we have is the dogs doc the golden retriever and Newfie know leave them alone. But boog the chocolate lab he is skunk ok I attack them then sprayed he killed one I took him to vets for rabies booster just play it safe. I'll try hot spices just around fence area, like chili powder I'll raid cupboard. We do have foxes I have never seen em this bad the skunks , get off work in morning came home had one in trap I just shoot them with 22 I make it humane as possible.

How about playing fox calls to move away the skunks? I googled "fox calls" and came up with a wealth of sites that have them. There is even an app...costs 2.99 tho.
Get something that can play them loud enough for the black and white Pepes to hear.

Worth a shot!

Will see if that works

last year I trapped at least a dozen, 8 from under the house - and they carry rabies here. owls and coyotes will eat them, I have never had a dog that learned. they will avoid the bathing but not the damn skunks.

here is the best recipe for getting rid of odor - http://home.earthlink.net/~skunkremedy/home/sk00001.htm

you can use regular bleach - a tablespoon or so - in place of the H202 in an emergency. I keep 4 quarts of H202 around all the time, but you need to rotate it every year or so as it loses its strength over time.

Then after a bath we wash him in a skunk shampoo we keep hydrogen peroxide on hand