I forgot to mention, if you do decide to use a trap, don't leave it open overnight. Groundhogs are out early in the morning and late in the afternoon/evening, so I would set my alarm for 6am, go out and open the trap, then close it before dark. I learned the hard way that you will catch things you don't want to catch if you leave the trap open overnight. I got a skunk the first night I put the trap out. Luckily, I had a brave friend who wasn't afraid to open the door to let the skunk out. The trap was quite small (I thought at the time it was something small eating my garden), so the skunk was crammed into the trap and couldn't lift it's tail. I then got good advice here to just leave the trap open during the day. I also got a bigger trap when I saw the groundhog in my garden! He wasn't fitting in the little trap.

We have about 6 of them. There were two last year, but DH refused to do anything about it. Next year it'll be 18? They are very wary of us. If they hear a door or window open they run into their burrow. No way we could get close enough to clonk them with a bottle of Poland Spring. They are odd creatures. They don't touch the hosta, but they ate a sea holly to the ground. Sea holly? It's all prickles! I had trouble potting up the darn thing, and they ate it. Our battles haven't begun, but my father had one with them on the order of Caddy Shack. He would sit by the window overlooking his garden for hours, screen removed, with a gun across his lap just waiting for them. I think the only thing he managed to shoot was the sprinker system. One year he tried a quarter stick of dynamite and all he managed to do was blow up one of my mother's gardens. He tried concrete as well. Crushed stone. You name it. He gave up. Years later there don't seem to be any more of them. Maybe Coyotes eat them? He's got a lot of those now. We have a friend who has had great success keeping them out of his vegetable garden with an electric fence at about ankle height (nose height to them). His must be stupid ones. They haven't figured out they can burrow under it.

I usually only had one or two chipmonks and one little hole, this year I got two new kittens and wanted them to watch the birds from the patio, so I fed the birds all winter, I now have a tunnel under the right side of my shed and they poke their heads through one tunnel and then race to the other, just like in a cartoon. I can't stand it. I quite feeding the birds 1 month ago, and they must be upset. I need to fill in the wholes and put moth balls or something and cement. I do not think they are cute, because in the past 40 years, we have spent money on cement around our porches, steps etc., retaining walls, to much damage, they are just rodents, so maybe soon I'll put the kittens out to fetch some of these critters. I am an animal lover, however, when the property keeps getting damaged, that's enough for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today we removed some of the rocks around the shed's bottom and discovered a hole that seemed to go straight down. it's pretty hard to see under there, but there wasn't a lot of dirt piled up so we dont' think it could be much of a tunnel yet. We also have thoroughly checked within a 50 feet radius of the shed and are sure there is no other entrance. We tried putting a hose down the hole and running it for quite a while. Didn't see any water come out anywhere, but no groundhog either. We threw a bunch of mothballs and some dog droppings under the shed, but I think since the hog has nowhere to go but out into the fenced garden he is staying entrenched. I think your suggestion of a professional exterminator is unfortunately our next step. Hopefully they guarantee success? If his quote is too high we might try fencing the hog *in* by fencing all around the shed's bottom first. I have some nice 'lopes and watermelons not to mention alot of okra (which the hog appears to enjoy also) still in that garden and I don't want to lose them all. Already I am unable to plant fall stuff lest it just be nipped off as it comes up and I don't want to waste my seed and labor. It is illegal here to move trapped wildlife although recently my kids saw someone letting a groundhog go in a local park. Off the record, animal control officers have hinted that you can move a trapped pest yourself, but that may be because it's a pain for them to repeatedly come out and pick them up. There are times when we catch 'coons night after night (we have chickens). One officer said something about "go about a mile" which I guess would help avoid the danger of moving rabies all over the county. I think it is unlikely that a homeowner would be prosecuted, but we always call animal control to pick up our trapped animals. AC destroys them. Letting a pest go would violate the golden rule by giving someone else our problem. Suburbanites tend to think it's ok to drop off unwanted dogs, cats and wild animals in rural areas where they will supposedly be less likely to bother anyone. But we country farm folks don't appreciate having our fields, gardens and livestock threatened.