HELP! Skunk.

If you have any kind of local wildlife office they may be able to help relocate the skunk to a better area.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Wild-Animals-705/skunks-2.htm

excellent article on skunks.
DETERRING SKUNKS
http://www.buginfo.com/furryguys/skunks1.cfm and http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06500.html give advice about how to deter skunks from visiting your home.
1. Keep pet food indoors and do not leave any food outside. If there is access to pet food in the garage through a doggie door, close the door at night or remove the food.
2. Cover trash containers and secure the lids, so they do not fall off if the container tips over.
3. Don't leave plastic trash bags outside. Use tightly sealed metal garbage cans; skunks can chew through plastic containers.
4. Change automatic sprinkler settings regularly. http://www.bugspray.com/catalog/products/page601.html suggests putting MOTION ACTIVATED WATER SPRAYERS along trails used by skunks. This device works by using water supplied by a garden hose. When the unit detects motion from the target animal, it activates the sprinkler head to fire a three second blast of water. The water and the spray will scare them away and they will avoid your garden after a couple of sprayings.
5. Eliminate garbage, debris, lumber piles and other places that skunks can hide in or under. Store lumber or firewood at least 18 inches above the ground.
6. Check fencing and eliminate access points into the yard. Seal the house by ensuring all vent screens are in place and in good condition make sure the access opening is closed securely. Ensure you make repairs after the skunks have left the enclosed area. Install fencing that extends 1 to 2 feet below ground and seal foundation openings to prevent skunks from denning under buildings.
7. Clear dense vegetation and thin out the lower 18 inches of landscaping shrubbery. Pick all ripe fruits and vegetables as soon as they are ripe and clean up fallen fruits or unwanted vegetables quickly.
8. Exclude entry to areas below decking, porches, or outside sheds using hardware cloth or chicken wire fencing. Place the wire into the soil at least 8 inches deep and 10 inches laterally below the soil, extending away from the structure.
9. Mothball scattering and ammonia-soaked cloths serve as a temporary repellent, but may encourage skunks to leave an area like the crawl space. Bright lighting will also chase them from dens.
10. Elevate beehives about 3 feet and place a smooth sheet of metal at the base to make them inaccessible.
11. Life-like owl figures (scare crows) are sometimes effective. Ultrasonic repelling devices are of little value. They annoy the skunk initially, but animals will quickly become accustomed to a new sound that does not harm them, and begin to ignore it.
12. Install motion-sensitive spotlights in garden areas, as the sudden bright light alarms the animals.
13. Eliminate turf pest insects such as white grubs, to reduce the food supply available to the skunk on your property.
14. ULTRA SOUND DEVICES may deter skunks.

Since they are nocturnal the motion sensitive light seems the best option to me.

trap it and relocate it

skunks will avoid well lit areas since they're nocturnal. leave your yard lights on, run extention cords with lights and leave on for a few nights. they should change their route. please dont shoot them. poor little guys have enough trouble already without people shooting them and they were here first to be honest!! living in the country comes with all kinds of critters and if you just blast them all because they inconvenience you soon there will be no more critters! death is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

first of all make sure there's nothing to attract it. it would have moved on if there was nothing around your house luring it in.
don't shoot it. you live in the country. skunks live there too. you need to learn to cohabitate.
give your menfolk a lot of water to drink, then line 'em up outside and have 'em whiz you a nice circle around the house. or find a cooperative dog.
khairete
S.

You could set a trap--make sure it's a low trap so when you go to remove/relocate it it cannot lift it's tail! Or a wildlife team could be called.
Also I have heard that coyote urine (and some say human urine) deters them.
Skunks tend to travel the same route night after night. They are nocturnal so if you can keep your property lit, that will help as well. make sure you have nothing out that a skunk considers "food." Bird seed, garbage in bags, etc.
Had the opportunity to find out more about skunks than I ever wanted to know as my dog was skunked TWICE in O. year. They are so gross.

Probably not gonna be a really popular answer, but, you could get a live trap and then shoot it once it's caught in the trap. It most likely will spray when you shoot it but at least that will be the last time it sprays.

I live in the country too and have had a terrible time with them in the past. If you do get any of the spray on you, there is a product called Skunk Off you can get at pet stores. It works decently. Nothing will totally take it away except time.

GL!

This worked for coons in our yard maybe it will work for skunks. Have your husband or MALE person pee everywhere in the yard for a week or so. I know yuck but it worked for us. It has to be done pretty regularly.
Good luck

You need to make it so the skunk has no reason to be there. Close up all open spaces, leave no food or water handy. He'll move on to the neighbors house.

Skunks are very transient animals, and they usually only stay in one place if they have food and water there, and a place to stay. Make sure you have no food (birdseed, garbage, etc.) where they can get to it. Can they get under a deck or anything? Make sure that's blocked. Also, you're doing the right thing with the mothballs and ammonia. I think it will leave eventually. Sometimes the smell lingers for days, especially if their spray got on your home or bushes or trees. Maybe it's already left.