HERMON, MAINE, US, February 28, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Homeowners and businesses across America are struggling to manage the impact of loitering and homeless encampments near where they live and work. Increased loitering and encampments around businesses and homes can create an uncomfortable and sometimes unsafe environment for customers, workers and families. A Maine company has found one way to deter these occurrences that comes from nature itself. In the wild, one particular animal has a very unique way of keeping other animals from getting too close. When a skunk lifts its tail and releases its pungent and powerful spray, other animals get the message that it is time to go. Maine Outdoor Solutions, LLC has taken that spray and bottled it in a product called Skunk'Um.

According to company founder, Ken Johnson, Skunk'Um pure skunk essence is the first ever product to use skunk essence as an all-natural loitering and encampment deterrent. "Skunk'Um allows you to create the illusion that a skunk is nearby and that your place is no place to be," says Johnson.

There has been considerable research conducted regarding why people find skunk scent so unpleasant. According to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, there are two primary reasons: the chemical compounds themselves and how they bond to other things: "The primary stinky compounds are thiols and thioacetates, both rich in sulfur—the same element that makes rotten eggs gag-inducing. Sulfur atoms in thiols and thioacetates also have a lot of stability in the way they bond to other atoms which is part of the reason the smell is hard to get rid of."

According to Johnson, for nearly 40 years, Maine Outdoor Solutions products under the PredatorPee^® and Foggy Mountain^® brands have been re-purposing various animal scents for use by hunters and for mitigating pest problems of all kinds. Whether it be using coyote urine to deter deer or bobcat urine for mice problems, Johnson has found that each animal scent's function in nature's predator-prey world can be adapted and used to help people in their interactions with wild animals as well.

Johnson says that most of his company's products have originated from customer inquiries. So about 10 years ago, when customers began asking "do you have anything to keep people from hanging out around my business?", Johnson went to work. "I knew that our urine products would not be right for this purpose, but we had one product in our hunting and trapping line that might be just the thing," says Johnson. That product was Foggy Mountain^® Skunk Essence and after having a few customers try it out, Skunk'Um was born.

Since then, the Skunk'Um line has grown to be one of the top sellers in the company's product line and now includes a Covid-motivated Skunk'Um Social Distancing Kit and a Skunk'Um Political Sign Protection Kit to deter people from stealing signs during campaign season. All of them can be found on Amazon or on the PredatorPee^® site.

Maine Outdoor Solutions
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