You may have overdone with your bait by coating the apple halfs wiht peanut butter. Use peach, cantolope slice, pineapple, etc (apple is also good) but don't use peanut butter, not that groundhogs don't like them, but you unnecesarrily get too much attention from the squiirls, therefore you miss the real targets.

Lol, I have a small family of them under my neighbors shed. Iam always afraid to trap them because I know with my luck I would catch a skunk instead. I just use cheap fencing to protect any of my veggies that sprawl out of their raised beds. It seems that they are either not capable or not intelligent enough to get at the stuff in the raised beds as they never suffer any damage. But anything I try to plant in the ground gets heavily "pruned" on a daily basis...

LOL Rayinpenn. Thanks for the laugh!

Here is a link that might be useful: Adventures in Agriburbia

Rayinpenn,

If you do manage to trap it, be sure to back fill in it's burrow and maybe even put in some type of barrier to prevent another burrow from being dug. If you don't, another animal will just take up residence in the old burrow, probably really quickly too.

I recently learned that groundhogs have a very short lifespan, around one and a half years. A good percentage of them don't even survive hibernation as they are low on the food chain. A lot of people think they have the same groundhog coming back year after year, where in reality it is most likely just a new one that took up residence in the old ones burrow. But a skunk or some other fun little critter could just as easily move in there when you do get rid of the groundhog.

Cover your trap with a piece of burlap when you release the groundhog. Remember, the hog will be scared, it just wants to run away as quickly as possible. With the burlap, it will not be able to see you if you stand behind the trap. Have fun!

{{gwi:51527}}

Ha ha! I had the same experience, I caught 2 squirrels in my quest to get the groundhog. After the second time, I had a heart to heart with the squirrel, I told him, next time, I wasn't releasing him :) He listened, he didn't come back. When I coated my apples in peanut butter, and left the trap open overnight, I caught a skunk. That wasn't as funny, but a year later, I can laugh about it. Maybe if you bait the trap with some sort of greens, the squirrels won't be interested.

I just carted off my fourth groundhog this week. I have trapped and released over 30 in the past 10 years or so. Once I open the trap for them they usually just run right out they are so happy to be released. I have used apples and bait and once I used sweet corn. Both worked great. As long as the trap is set in the day light your chances of getting a skunk are small but never leave the trap set over night or you will get a skunk for sure. Groundhogs are diurnal like humans and they sleep at night but skunks are noctournal and roam around at night!
Joann

Well I always put chicken wire around my garden which does a good job keeping them out (they seem to bump into it and then turn around and leave), I also called in a hit man (neighbours cat) and let him roam the backyard once or twice a week and I haven't even seen the ground hog since I started doing that.

My neighbors dog used to do an excellent job of playing hit man, but she unfortunately had to put him down this past winter.

I caught one in a trap last year. I had chunks of broc & cauliflower, and leaves from both, + cantaloupe. it took about 2 weeks for him to wander in, but it worked.

I have to admit I didnt deal with the animal, my neighbor, whose trap I had borrowed came and took him away for me. He was bigger than my cat and being a city boy originally I was a little spooked by the varmint.

Peaches - ripe, organic, expensive peaches are the answer! I caught 13 in one year with them (and a plank/chicken wire set up that guides the woodchuck into the trap).

And an annoyed woodchuck is far more impressive than an annoyed squirrel! If your trap is old, invest in a new one from Lowes/Home Depot that allows you to open it from the top, while standing behind the trap.

If it is your shed, after you catch the groundhog, dig a 1-2 foot deep trench around the base of the shed.
Bury close-set wire fencing down 1-2 feet and attach it to the side of the shed. This will prevent another one from moving in.

Don't leave the trap set at night if possible. Early morning and evening before sunset are best. Night time trapping leads to skunks and possums.

When I caught my first woodchuck, my friend's friend laughed upon hearing the story "She thinks there's only one!" There is rarely just one woodchuck. Especially in PA.

Good luck!
Bellatrix

Caught my third squirrel this morning.