Skinks and lizards are amazing little creatures that help control the insect population and generally do little harm. However, like many creatures, when there's an abundance of skinks in your yard or home, they can start to get downright annoying.
I personally love skinks in my yard and garden, but once they start gathering on the patio, taking bites out of berries, or even start creeping into the home and leaving droppings everywhere, it's time to start thinking about some humane ways to naturally deter them so they can go do their important work in the ecosystem elsewhere!
Because skinks have an important job to do - keep the insect population at bay - many people would much rather use natural methods to deter them rather than to cause them any harm - myself included! The good news is that there are plenty of safe, simple methods for encouraging skinks to go elsewhere. In this blog post, we'll go over 12 of the most effective ways to get rid of skinks in your yard (and home).
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Where Do Skinks Live (And What Types of Areas Attract Them)?
Skinks feel welcomed in warmer climates with high moisture levels. Around the world, skinks are popular in the tropical regions of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. In the United States, skinks and lizard populations make their homes in warm, moist areas such as the Eastern hardwood forests (along the east coast and down to Florida), sunny, western grasslands and forests (including Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Nevada), and the plains of Texas, Nebraska, and Arizona, to name a few.
Skinks enjoy gathering near water sources and in places with plenty of insect activity. While they like the cover that wooded areas and forests provide, prairie skinks also enjoy the grassy areas that the open prairie offers - perfect for enjoying the sunshine and burrowing down into the soft soil for safety. Sandy beaches also make an ideal habitat for skinks.
Skinks are somewhat seasonal in many climates, becoming more active in the warmer months of spring and summer - especially during warm, bright days. However, they can appear on sunny days in cold weather, as well. They love the light and typically make their appearances during the daytime.
While skinks are wary of humans and larger animals, they're also swift little creatures that aren't too shy to gather near residential areas when they find a good food source. For homeowners and business owners in skink-friendly climates, too many skinks can definitely cause an annoyance! The best, natural ways to get rid of skinks are to make the habitat as unfriendly as possible by reducing insect activity and using DIY methods to repel them from residential indoor and outdoor spaces.
12 Ways to Get Rid of Skinks in Your Yard and Home
If you have a skink or lizard problem, there are a number of preventive measures and natural deterrents you can turn to to try to encourage them to make their home elsewhere. Keep in mind that lizards are an important part of the ecosystem, as they help to control insect populations and can even prevent the spread of some diseases (some studies even show that lizards may be slowing down the spread of Lyme disease in southern states!).
So if you don't appreciate them crawling around your space but want to discourage them safely, don't worry! Here are 12 safe ways to get rid of skinks around your yard and home.
1. Preventive measures
Skinks love to hang out where they can easily find food (particularly insects), hiding spots, and warmth. If you can make your outdoor (and indoor) spaces less hospitable to skinks, you may just be able to ward them off from the get-go. Here are some practical ways to do this:
- Turn off outdoor lights at night. Light attracts bugs, and where bugs are, you'll get skinks. Turn off the lights on your porch and other potential entry points, and use blackout shades to keep light from escaping.
- Clean up food spills. Check your decks and patios for food spills and clean them up quickly. If you have skinks in your living space, make sure indoor food spills are cleaned up quickly, too (don't forget to keep an eye on pet food).
- Clear piles of debris (trash and brush). Piles of brush (like wood, branches, and leaves) can attract skinks, and so can trash around garbage cans, as well as other clutter in your yard. Piles of leaves, dense bushes, and wood stacks make excellent potential hiding spots for skinks.
- Keep doors closed and seal up possible holes. This is especially important if the temperature in your home is warmer than outside. Lizards love warm spots!
- Cool your home. Keeping the air conditioning on will also make your house a less attractive place for skinks.
- Keep outdoor areas dry. Skinks love moist environments. Try to limit standing water in your yard in order to make it less hospitable to skinks. Dripping gutters, a leaking pipe, the pet bowl, and birdbaths can often be culprits.
2. Peppermint or clove oil
If you're going for natural ingredients, essential oils can be an effective home remedy against skinks. Spray some peppermint or clove oil around your patios and near doorways and other entry points.
3. Mothballs
Naphthalene balls (also known as mothballs) are another effective lizard deterrent. Naphthalene is a toxic gas that kills insects and repels animals like skinks.
This is not a good method to use if you have kids or pets, however! Mothballs can cause serious potential risk if ingested by people or animals.
4. Coffee grounds
When it comes to home remedies, coffee grounds are another great idea for naturally deterring skinks and lizards. Just sprinkle them near your home's entry points (doors and windows), around your porches and patios, or even in the garden if skinks are causing problems there.
You can also make a coffee spray by putting diluted, cooled coffee into a spray bottle and regularly spraying it around your outdoor areas and entry points.
5. Onions and garlic
The strong scent of onions and garlic can be another effective, natural method for keeping lizards away from your yard. One method is to simply slice up some onions or raw garlic cloves and place them near entry points or around your outdoor spaces. You can also make a spray by crushing onions and garlic, mixing them in a spray bottle with water, and spraying it around your decks or doorways.
Keep in mind: onions and garlic are in the allium family and can be dangerous to pets if ingested in large amounts.
If you struggle with skinks in your garden areas, you can also consider planting onions and garlic to help deter them. Their pungent smell is also a good strategy to keep insects away, which will help to limit skinks, too. Here's a few articles about How to Grow Onions and How to Grow Garlic.
6. Pepper sprays
Lizards do not like pepper spray or hot sauce mixes! Make your own natural lizard repellent by combining ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, red chili powder, or crushed hot peppers with some water and spraying it in any areas where you regularly find skinks.
7. Plastic or rubber snakes
This may sound like a bit of a silly one, but some people have had success with scaring skinks away using fake snakes! Snakes are a common predator of skinks, and a few realistic ones laying around *might* do the trick to scare some skinks away. It's a good idea to move your fake snake around every couple of days to maximize its effectiveness.
This isn't really a long-term solution, but it can often work for a few days.
8. Glue traps
If scare tactics aren't working, you can also resort to using a glue trap to trap some skinks. This can sometimes be a less gentle method, since it also has the potential to trap other animals, and lizards can starve to death if they're not removed from the trap promptly.
After trapping, you can take your skink(s) to another location and release them using vegetable or mineral oil.
9. Repellent plants
Repellent plants can be a great way to keep insects and skinks away from your garden and patios. Plus, you get to enjoy them! Strong-scented plants are low-maintenance and keep bugs and lizards away with their pungent smells.
Try herbs and flowers like:
- Peppermint
- Citronella
- Eucalyptus
- Marigolds
- Lemongrass
- Rosemary
- Lavender
- Garlic
10. Commercial insect repellents
Insect infestations are one of the top reasons you might have skinks in your yard and around your living spaces. Skinks feed on insects! If DIY methods aren't working, there's no shame in trying out a commercial insect repellent to get the skinks' food away from your home.
If you're looking for a more natural option, go for one of the many commercial repellents that use plant-based ingredients with a strong smell, like citrus, citronella, peppermint, and lavender.
11. Cold water
Slapping skinks with cold water stuns them. It's not a long-term solution, but if you want to catch some skinks and relocate them, cold water might work! Keep a spray bottle (perhaps with ice in it) close by, and if a skink approaches, you can spray and stun it to make it easy to capture.
12. Commercial lizard repellents
Nothing's working? A commercial lizard repellent might be the best way to get rid of your fast little friends in some cases. There are plenty of herbal lizard repellents on the market that have irritating but safe ingredients like peppermint, clove, cinnamon, and other essential oils.
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