What they don't like is a 3-4' fence,
with a floppy top and the bottom buried 6" into the dirt ;-)

I trap em in a Havahart trap and drive them down to road to my neighbor's garden.....LOL

ÂThe sounds of a radio playing among your veggies make them loose their appetite.
ÂAn electric poultry fence is very helpful, but they may tunnel under.
ÂChicken wire fencing around your beans and other crops is also helpful. Bend the chicken wire like an "L", so a few feet of it is flat on the ground, the rest upright. Put something heavy (ten-foot rebars) on the flat wire on the ground to hold it down (so chucks can't wiggle under the fence). Use four-foot-long rebars (HD) as fence supports. Cut a slit in old tennis balls and mound a tennis ball atop each re-bar (to protect against accidently poking out an eye, when reaching for something on the ground).

Jerseytom,
When I lived in Jackson, NJ, we had LOTS and LOTS of woodchucks. My neighbors had them too. A big part of the problem was that no one would kill them, so the whole town seemed to be playing a game of "relocate the woodchuck...to someone else's back step." So much so, that they now have a law, in that neck of the woods, that it is illegal to relocate a woodchuck! But I got to where I could grow anything. The fence with the floppy top is a good idea, as is burying the bottom. I had an eight foot fence and one day I looked out the window to see a woodchuck perched on top of an eight foot fence post and ready to descend into my garden. Fortunately, I lived where I could dispatch him, quietly, with a 22, and I did. But if that had not been an option, I'd have let him get down into the garden and gone after him with a walking staff. But that probably wouldn't be agreeable to most.

Here's what I did to cut down greatly on woodchuck invasions. I bought a nice large live trap and started trapping them, both on my property and, with permission, on my neighbors' as well. I trapped and trapped, starting in March, setting the trap close to holes where I observed woodchuck movement. Within a year I had wiped out the closest habitations. Then, I just kept trapping and watching. In mid spring, every year, the adolescents would start exploring and looking for new homes. I'd catch them while they were just arriving, before they could get established and raise a family. It worked, and the neighbors were very happy about it, since they stopped having problems themselves. I did not release them, ever, as I consider that to be a disservice both to the neighborhood, environment, and even the well being of the woodchuck population itself. They are ridiculously overpopulated in NJ.

Enough rambling. Good luck!

George
Tahlequah, OK

The only thing that works for me is a battery charged electric wire (actually 3 wires, one at 1-2", one at 6", one at 10") that runs around the perimeter of the garden a few inches out from a chicken wire fence. I use the Fi-Shock SS-2LGX from Mr. McGregor's fence (see www.mrmcgregorfence.com). You can buy a whole kit or just the charger ("energizer") and put up your own wire.

Worth every penney, I've had mine for about 5 years now. You have to change batteries about every 3 months (two "D" size batteries). One year I let the batteries run down and looked out one morning to see a whole family of wookchucks in the garden. Arrgh! I replaced the batteries and had someone relocate the family. Never had them again. It even keeps out deer! Apparantly the deer will try to push under the chicken wire fence and get their nose zapped as they approach the fence. They never come back!

Good luck!

To answer the original question: woodchucks will eat almost anything that we'd consider eating

I think they actually ate some of my foxglove (digitalis) during a particularly lean year up in NJ
I don't think it killed them... but I don't remember a second attack, either

All you NJ (and former NJ) posters have me curious - I've been a Joisey girl all my life, and definitely have seen huge populations of these critters. In fact, one is currently the leading candidate for the role of Nibbler of my beans, beets and carrots.

I've just always called it a groundhog, and I've always heard it called a groundhog. I know they're the same creature, but you have me wondering why I know it by a different name...

I don't think there's any distinction between groundhog and woodchuck. I grew up hearing the terms used interchangeably.

Potterhead2, that sure sounds like a nice set up!

George

Good work George.

Chaff

George, you did your community a great service.

But, how do you humanely kill woodchucks if shooting them is not an option? I think many woodchucks are relocated because people don't know what else to do with a live woodchuck in the trap.

What I would like to know is how the farms in both New Jersey and New York keep these critters from eating vegetables, especially the farms where you pick your own vegetables. It's impossible to put traps all around large acres.

They probably use dogs. Also, I'm not sure how large a woodchuck population could establish itself on a vegetable farm; they may just live with a certain amount of critter damage.

Yesterday I saw a resident woodchuck who had gotten inside the electric fence around my vegetable garden and couldn't get out. He kept frantically throwing himself at the fence and running off when he would get shocked. Finally crawled back under when I came out. I hope he learned his lesson!

A 30.06 with a hollow point bullet works great. I personally don't care about being humane to creatures that rob from me. I look out the window and see Phil standing on his hind legs, munching om my tomatoes or cucumbers with a big grin on his face.

I have a trap but if I catch one, I have a rain barrel the trap will easily fit in. Cruel - maybe, but the end result is no different from squashing a water bug or spraying termites - they die!

Mike

I grew up in upstate New York. Farmers and livestock ranch men used to pay us kids to shoot chucks.

Humane? Decisions, decisions... What to do... Shoot, drown, or electrocute them? Nothing that causes death is humane to the thing being killed!

But... How humane is it when a prize bull, or horse gets a broken leg from a chuck hole then has to get shot?

Chucks are big furry rats that do a LOT more damage than rats but we have NO problem killing a rat by breaking its neck in a trap.

Like I said, I'm a country boy and dealing with losses from wildlife is different for me. If someone really feels like a certain amount of losses are OK, they can either plant more to feed them... or like me thin them out.

IMO, you should find a kid with a .22 or at the least buy a really powerful air gun... it won't take long for you to reap what you sow :-)

Oh, the biggest problem killing them is what to do with the carcass. The bodies stink up the dump, the best thing to do if you have the room is to bury them.

Shooting them seems relatively humane (if you're a good shot and sure of what you're shooting)

So... anyone got a good woodchuck recipe?

Believe it or not, dad's cousin loved groundhog. He said it is extremely greasy, though, so much so he would fry it on stakes so the grease to drip off the thing.

Mike

here are some recipes.

Some get really big.

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipes

I too have been calling it a groundhog, but was corrected and told it was a woodchuck. I dont know if its a perminent solution or not but i shoved alot of hair from the last time i had my haircut down the woodchuckk hole, about 2 weeks ago and i havnt seen them out since, Hopefully its perminate, as i have replanted everything that was taken down by them. My MIL is getting me a trap for them in the meantime just incase theyt are not gone. But i will also flood the hole as the only place ive seen them disappear to is under my shed. Never ate woodchuck before how is it?

Not to worry, groundhog and woodchuck are two names for the same animal.

One sure method to rid your area of a groundhog, AKA woodchuck, AKA whistle pig is to get a well used litter, from a litter box, and pour it down their hole. They will relocate.

I have a 40'x60' garden in a rural area. Outside of raccoons at corn time, main culprits are rabbits and deer. The original garden perimeter fence is 4' high 1.5" mesh but its old and no better than swiss cheese to critters now. Electrifying 2 years ago stopped all invaders. I have 4 hot wires, lowest is 2" - 3" above ground, then up to 4'

What is the average cost to the battery operated electric fence mentioned earlier? And how hard to install?

Kits from Mr. McGregor's Fence, which potterhead2 mentioned earlier, are shown here. They range in price from about $150 to $400, depending on length, type of energizer (D battery, solar, or AC), and whether you get an extra wire to help discourage deer. (Many people find the basic fence keeps deer away even without the extra wire.)

Premier has a few different options, shown here. They have more styles of fence to choose from but don't offer energizers powered by household batteries.

My sense is that Premier's equipment is sturdier and has more options for larger gardens.