Two decades after its gigantic garbage dump closed, Staten Island still stinks — because it’s overrun by skunks.

The semi-bucolic borough, already home to thousands of nuisance white-tailed deer, has seen its populations of coyotes, foxes and raccoons surge, experts say. But the skunks are really making their presence known.

“My neighborhood definitely has a pet skunk,” said Ashley Goldberg, of Bulls Head. “I see it when I walk the dog at night and am terrified!”

The stinkers are native to the tristate area but were largely wiped out decades ago because of insecticides, rabies and habitat loss, experts said.

Ironically, one of the reasons they are rebounding is because the massive Fresh Kills Park has sprouted up on what was once the largest landfill in the world, creating hundreds of acres of natural habitat.

“They’ve definitely become more abundant,” said Mike Shanley, of Huguenot, who has encountered skunk families in his backyard and the grounds of Staten Island Academy on Todt Hill, where he teaches. “They’re definitely breeding, and are established — its not just a few individuals coming over from Jersey.” 

The skunks stink, scare and spray pets, and go through residential trash, said some homeowners. Their return reeks for unsuspecting residents who want to avoid being sprayed by Pepé Le Pew. 

“I’m always scared because the dog stops and stares,” Goldberg said. “I’m usually running away!” 

Goldberg said her neighborhood skunk moved in under a neighbor’s deck in the past year. Several other lifelong Islanders told The Post they’ve seen their first skunk within the past year.

City Park Rangers and wildlife experts named at least eight island parks that skunks are known to frequent, including Willowbrook Park, Wolfe’s Pond and Westerleigh Park. NYC Parks encouraged people to observe skunks from a distance, and said they often stomp and hiss warnings before spraying.

“The scent is overpowering,” said Annadale resident Anthony Graziano, who smells skunk regularly while walking along a wooded stretch on his morning commute. “I spent nine months upstate during the pandemic, so I know the smell. When you smell it at 6 a.m. you know its not some kids smoking weed.” 

But some, like Howard Fischer, of Grymes Hill, enjoy their new neighbors — even after recently finding two dead skunks in his driveway.

“The good news is they are definitely back and around, the bad news is I see so many dead,” Fischer said. “There are too many roads.”