STUDIO CITY : Invasion of Skunks Irks Neighborhood

Over the last year, dozens of skunks have invaded a Studio City neighborhood, causing more than just a stench in the air.

The neighborhood joke has turned into an all out war against the black-and-white critters, with residents calling in a specialist to stop the migration.

“We must have a skunk burial ground or something,” joked resident Bob Feiles.

“Or they just love the neighborhood,” he said.

The brazen skunks have in the last year entered houses on Laurel Terrace and Viewcrest Road, crawling through doggie doors, eating pet food and basically stinking things up.

“They really stink,” Feiles said. “You can tell for blocks that there is a skunk in here.”

Les Mitchell, deputy director of Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control, said pet food left outside one or more houses might have attracted the skunks initially.

“They are very inquisitive. It is easier for them to come into a house and eat the cat food than get their own food,” Mitchell said.

Securing pet doors, he said, might help keep them out.

That tactic hasn’t worked for Ron Oberman, who lives next door to Feiles.

Oberman has trapped numerous skunks in his home. “Several times, I have closed off the cat door, and they literally start banging on it,” Oberman said.

“And you can’t disturb them because they might spray you,” he said.

The skunks usually enter the homes at night, Oberman said.

One evening, while relaxing in his den, Oberman said he heard chewing sounds and “looked around and saw this huge skunk eating the cat’s food.

“He just looked at me and kept eating,” Oberman said.

The skunks first appeared last February, then resurfaced in July and again in November.

Feiles hired a specialist who has caught 25 of the skunks in the last year, at a cost of $400.

“They live in a bad area,” said John Gloske of Harns Termite and Pest Control in Reseda. “It is so unusual. I have seen skunks (in the Valley) before but never like that.

“It’s like (the skunks) are picking on this poor guy’s home,” he said.

Once a skunk enters a structure, Gloske explained, its scent stays and attracts other skunks.

As many as four skunks at a time lived under Feiles’ house. “You would get rid of them and others would come right back,” Gloske said.

In the winter months, it gets worse as the creatures search for shelter from the rain, Gloske said.

But Feiles has been able to curb the problem for the past week or so after Gloske advised him to place ammonia soaked rags in any crawl spaces around his home, which deters the skunks from entering.

Although Feiles, who lives at the base of the Santa Monica Mountains, has found many creatures crawling around his home, it never has been this bad.

“In two weeks, we caught a skunk almost every night,” he said.

“It is just unbelievable.”