Flippin Groundhogs Out Already

15 years ago

The flippin groundhogs, and I'm controlling my language here, have already emerged here (6b) and one just tried to come into the garage disregarding the fact that I'm sitting right here. I screamed at him to get the &$## out of here and had to chase him all the way to the back of the yard under my father's shed where the family from hell lives and procreates.

I've been wondering what's been rooting around in the back bed behind the garage as nobody but the squirrels and birds usually peruse there.

I'm already in a funk over sowing all these seeds just to have these rolly-polly destroyers drag themselves all over eating everything in their path...and that doesn't even take into account my fury over deer and rabbits getting my plants.

There may be deer/rabbits resistant plant lists to lull newbies like me into a false sense of security (lesson learned last year) but there's nothing miserable groundhogs won't eat.

Sorry...it's so disheartening even when I realize there are people with REAL problems who would love to have just a critter eating plant problem in real life.

My father asked me if I wanted him to get something to deal with them. My first thought was not "nature correct" so he suggested Havahart traps. I reminded him it's illegal in NJ to trap and relocate rabbits/groundhogs but he swears his friends ("old men's take back our yard gang") do it all the time.

Well, I had my rant to the ONLY people I know who might have one iota of sympathy for finding your plants eaten to the ground after all the work that goes into producing and tending them. Even ugly fencing doesn't keep them out.

There's no one in my daily life who gives one hoot if there are flowers and plants besides Boxwood on the entire street...and the deer have stripped all the outer branches of the Boxwood already this winter. Yes, they've been sprayed weekly with alternating concoctions to no avail.

I look at all the beautiful pictures of your gardens and sigh with dejection after I see how many gorgeous flowers are out there.

Fences are going up until the babies can get bigger and I don't care how trashy it looks in front of the house and at the street...or how much my father snipes about it.

Okay, I'm done venting for the time being...but only because I need to get dinner ready!

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Comments (6)

northforker
15 years ago
Save your flowers - - plant some veggies for them!!! We had a groundhog family move in 2 years ago and my husband has tried everything to get rid of them - - bubble gum (suppose to clog them up till they die - didn't), smoke bombs in their nest, even took a few shots with a bb gun (can't miss these guys, they are chubby as puppies). They have terrorized his veggie garden to the point that he is saying with certainty that he is not going to bother planting one this year - - we'll support the local farm stands. This makes me a little nervous though because they did not bother my flowers when there were veggies around and maybe now they will!!!

Ground hogs are a common "crazy making" complaint. DH spent hours on the internet looking for the answer and I was amazed at how many sites promote really wacky tactics for their demise. You have lots of company newbie in NJ!!!
MissMyGardens
Original Author
15 years ago
I've read about the bubble gum "solution" and was very tempted to try it but was afraid they'd die under the shed without me being able to retrieve them and make it stink more than they already do...LOL.

Nan, if I had any sunny spot that would support veggies I'd plant something there. I'd give my eye teeth to have a REAL tomato.

Trouble is I'm "sun challenged" at my father's place and those spots are reserved for whatever butterfly/hummer plants I can cram in there...even loads of containers since the ground is water pooling clay except 3 small beds I was able to raise so roots/bulbs don't rot.

A guy I met last summer at Home Depot while buying repellant said he was buying Havahart traps because he'd just seen groundhogs scaling his 5' fence around HIS veggie garden.

Suspect you'd better convince your husband to plant something for these miserable herbivores to eat besides your plants/flowers. It would be worse to have lovely gardens, years in the making, eaten away.

Thanks for the commiseration...LOL.
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hi thanks for all your suggestions. electric fencing doesn't work for me unfortanetly becuase one I have no power source two i really really don't want to get jolted. I came up with a plan That I think will work better. the fence will be 4 ft high and have a fishing line strand every foot. the bottom foot will be chicken wire with anuall red poppies planted outside the fence to disguise the chicken wire. the next foot will have fishing line every 6" and the top two feet will have flags on it so the deer will be able to tell that somthing is there and they won't want to jump it since they can't see the fishing line. finally I will have my motion activated ultra-sonic device to scare away any animals that might get in to the garden. I will also apply my mint repelent as well as blood meal to help make my garden the least attractive feeding spot. do you think this will work? I know some of you said that fishing line won't work but our county extension service uses it with great effect to keep deer out of there demanstration gardens. I alo know that electric fence would work well but since I wouldn't be able to put it together myself I'd have to get a kit of some kind and that would be out of my buget since I'm trying to build this fence for under $20. (I have the fishing line poles and some of the chicken wire already. here is a rough sketch of what the fence might look like.
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Purple, I've enjoyed reading this thread and wanted to add my $.02 worth. The first thing I noticed is that the stems appear to be flacid.....wilty. That could be caused by over OR under watering.....whichever might cause the roots from being able to access water. In this case, I wonder if the water you're applying is evacuating before soaking the whole soil volume. One thing about these plants (all plants) is that though they need to dry out somewhat between drenchings, the potting soil must be completely saturated on watering day. This is true for all plants, even those cacti that are native to extremely arid regions. Have you ever seen "Medicine Man ", a movie starring that gorgeous specimen of manhood Sean Connery? It takes place in the rainforest of Brazil. There are scenes of my lovely Sean ziplining through the forest canopy, sharing the scenes with huge epiphytic cacti and other plants. Really neat movie. Plus, it stars Sean Connery. I get that it's difficult to understand how those prickly, barrel shaped desert cacti have ANYTHING to do those graceful rainforest plants. Here's what I "think " is a good analogy, but don't laugh at me toooooo hard if it really stinks. Take your dog into consideration for a moment. It's a mammal. So are you and the pesky squirrels in your yard. Big differences amongst those three mammals yet they share essential similarities. Still with me? Now, think of those incredible bottlenose dolphins familiar to anyone living in coastal areas. Superficially, they seem to have so little in common with your dog, but those porpoises are just another type of mammal. They live in a different environment, for sure, but the similarities are much more important than the differences. You just need to try to provide the kind of environment your dolphin needs. :-) Dorie
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I recently followed the ammonia suggestion...and it worked fast! During daylight hours, I poured about a cup of ammonia into all openings less one. Within a few MINUTES, the ground hog poked it's head out the non-ammonia scented opening, looked about a bit and went back down into it's cave. A repeat treatment the next day, all openings this time, revealed that it had abandoned the home beneath my 8x10 shed. But, to be sure, I continued the treatments daily for 5 days in all holes, then filled in dirt to all but one hole. Seeing no re-excavation and feeling victorious, I then filled in the final opening and thought all was done. Within in a week, it was back and had re-excavated! Not dissuaded, I started all over employing the same tactic, which worked again to drive it off. Since then, I have dirt-filled the holes again and added one more step aimed at prevention: I pour ammonia around the base of my shed, about one cup per side, every day or so. Almost a month has passed with no more signs of the unwelcome squatter. As winter is not far off, that groundhog will find another place to be. When Spring arrives, I'll be watching for a re-visitation, ammonia in stock and ready to pour. As an added bonus, it seems the chipmunks, who ran commune around my shed, don't like the ammonia much either!
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floodthelast
15 years ago
Your spot of gardening earth sounds like mine. I have a nice dog though, she handles everything bigger than a mole. She also poops in my beds buries raccoons and randomly digs through them. So it's a difficult situation so far. Check my latest posts and we can commiserate about clay and water whenever you like.
retiredprof
15 years ago
Get a Doberman or two! My girls take care of any groundhogs, rabbits, moles, etc. including the cursed black snakes that scare the crap outta me. The snakes don't eat the veggies, of course, but they hang out in the shade of my raised beds and, worse, climb up the trees and into the birdhouses! A few years ago, a big one climbed in the birdhouse and knocked off four new sparrow hatchlings.
playintheyard
15 years ago
Oh that reallt **cks!! How heart breaking!! Get the traps and some poison make him a nice veggie dish!!

Annette
MissMyGardens
Original Author
15 years ago
Floodthelast, are you the one who posted pics of the flooded backyard? I was so upset to see those plants under water. I feel for you. You must cringe when reading the old recommendation to test whether or not you have clay by seeing if water's still pooling after 5-6 hours. I get kick out of that one.

Your dog actually gets raccoons?? Holy cannoli!

The only "pets" I have are my yard birds and I spoil them rotten. I even have a soft spot for the 6 squirrels who frequent the area for some food and water from the makeshift birdbaths.

One neighbor down the street has 2 Golden Labs that her husband always thinks will "stay in the yard" when he lets them out at night. She could rap him over the head. They end up roaming the neighborhood but are totally worthless in the "critter control" arena. They just slobber all over anyone they come across.

My father has offered to try a trap but there are more than just one...at least 3 I've seen traveling together. We'd have to transport them under cover of darkness since it's illegal to trap and/or relocate in NJ. Besides, a friend has people relocating them in woods near his property and he has a heck of a time from their "gifts".

Flippin Groundhogs Out Already

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northforker

MissMyGardens
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Flippin Groundhogs Out Already

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