Skunks Overwhelm Pittsburgh Neighborhood
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Even sweet Pepe Le Pew would not be welcome in one Sheraden neighborhood.
The stench from what amounts to a skunk invasion is driving people from their porches.
Ann Pascuzzi, 88, and her daughter, Nancy, have lived on Harlow Street since 1956 and never had a skunk problem until recently.
"We have children, first of all, running up and down the street – I'm really concerned about rabies," says Nancy Pascuzzi.
Their neighbors, like Barbara Lupitske, feel the same.
"Mornings, afternoons, especially at night the smell just kind of overwhelms you," she said.
A vacant house across the street is the focal point for the wildlife. Living inside, neighbors say, are families of skunks, raccoons and snake nests.
"They tell me," says Ann, "the lady lives out of town and there's nothing they can do. They take her to court and she doesn't show up."
City Animal Control Supervisor Gerald Akrie is personally familiar with the influx of skunks.
"I live over that way also," he said. "Sometimes I'm laying in bed and it just wakes me straight up with smell."
It's believed that the skunk problem began under the Wind Gap Bridge in McKees Rocks after someone put out a feeding trough.
"They've seen skunks just come and feed from this trough and which my officer at the time advised them that's not a good idea," Akrie said.
Animal control traps and destroys the skunks as fast as they can. Before 2009, skunks weren't even a stat.
"[In] 2010 it jumped up to 64 and through now, since January, we've picked up 84 so far," Akrie said.
And it appears that the skunks are on the move with more sightings in the East End and the South Hills.
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