Try a little peanut butter on apple wedges. It's worked for me with groundhogs. Problem is that right now he's full! Too much kale. Good luck.

Sorry to hear about this. In my opinion, a groundhog is the worst possible varmint you have near the garden. I had to deal with one for a couple of years and it would go to the kale first. Most aggravating was seeing it standing up on his hind legs with a beautiful large ripe tomato in its paws spinning it around while he chomped on it while looking at me with steam shooting out of my ears like in a cartoon.

I trapped it 5 times, but it managed to conform to the consistency of a jellyfish and somehow squeezed out of the trap. Get a good trap, not a cheap one. I'd hate to think of what would have happened if I had been in the process of relocating him and he'd escape the trap while in the car.

Cantaloupe wedges work well as a trap bait.

I had success pouring used kitty litter in its hole. It vacated. There are tons of them in the neighborhood though, and without my fortified fence with chicken wire bent outwards at the base to prevent digging (2 feet of it flat on the ground, 1 foot spliced with the fence), I doubt my garden would last for long. I still am not all that confident - they should rename them "gardener's bane." I am very hesitant to grow brassicas again as they are groundhog crack.

You should maybe scout out and find where it is living - I think they are territorial and do not travel far for food.

(Double post for similar topic)

I am literally crying in laughter over these posts haha!

I have them, but never had an issue because my garden is fenced in.

Maybe you should just start serving him salads on a regular basis to keep him happy, and away from your garden :-) The groundhogs by me love to eat sunflower kernels(which are for the birds). Maybe you can entice them with another meal, to keep them away from that precious kale.

Woodchucks will travel no doubt. Also IF you have one you may have the whole family. That may account for the destruction you saw.

They don't travel far but do connect their tunnels. They go in a rather large hole which is hard to miss - prob 1ft in diameter and goes straight down for about 3 ft.

IF you know where the hole is smoke bombs work well and you won't have to dispose of the body. The bomb create carbon monoxide and can be found at Home Depot and most garden centers.

A wise farmer once told me once you have him in the trap to fill a garbage can with water and give em a bath. No shots fired, no gas burned, no returns, and no worry about making him someone elses problem. That could be how he found YOU!

It needs to be a fairly large garbage can tho, check before hand cuz the critter will come out screamin.

drowning them does not work if the soil is well drained and the hole large enough. I once blocked all entrances with chicken wire and cinder blocks, turned on the water, and let it go all night. It survived.

smoking them works only if all holes are completely closed, so survey the area for secondary entrances. The entrance needs a complete seal, for example a garbage bag held down by rocks, and backed by a plank and a cinder block to prevent an escape. There was one under a neighbor Jacuzzi, there was enough leakage under the Jacuzzi that a whole package was insufficient.

You cannot fill the tunnel with enuff water to drown them. See note above about using a garbage can or similar apparatus.

Groundhog/woodchucks are normally in their "dugouts" at high noon and definitely when the sun goes down. You will not see a groundhog after sunset - the perfect time for a smoke bomb.

The first time I did the smoke thingy - I had no idea where any other holes were. I did cover this hole so I could tell IF he ever came out - he didn't.

It is recommended to fill in the holes - for safety and so no other critters decide to move in. I have filled in the holes only to have more woodchucks the next season.

They just dug around the rocks but at least I knew ahead of time I had company ;-)

I also learned to plant broccoli (or kale) to see IF there was a woodchuck in the neighborhood :-)

Whoa . . . I'm reeling from all this news. All duly noted and appreciated. Just spoke with next door neighbor who watches him come out from under her shed, eat her clover and head for my house for dessert. She thought all your stories of gnawing and giant holes was 'cute'. Maybe I should still set a trap, but start with a larger one, place it in front of her door, bait it with Snickers, ring the doorbell and run !

Look under the shed you will see the hole there. My first discovery was under my neighbors shed too.

Hard to block up - I used a pile of small stones I had.

Some of these comments really had me chuckling... you could also always do this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmkJGwO2CI

;)

Woodchucks do love kate! I have a 6 ft chain link fence around my garden, even so, baby bunnies were able to squeeze through the fence links and devour my kale. That was the first thing they went for, the kale. After that, we put chicken wire on top of the chain link and that took care of it, they couldn't squeeze through that. I am surprised it took this long for your garden to get eaten up, without a fence I don't know how anyone can manage to have a veggie garden. And woodchucks can eat up to 5 lbs of vegetation a day, so they can do a lot of damage in one day. Usually, there is more than one too. And they always seem to live under a shed, every year I have one under mine. Good luck!

I laughed too soon. Just got a bad storm here and it appears to have pried the fence just enough to let a groundhog scamper in. Demolished my Kale and ate my carrot tops.

I don't suppose carrots will continue growing without their foliage, will they?

Chris, yes the foliage can regrow. A groundhog ate all mine earlier and they came right back. I was very surprised considering how long it took the first time. Give them a chance.

Well that's good news lol.

Thank you.

Kale is trying to make a comeback?

After the groundhog had himself a lovely salad, it appears new growth is coming from the center.

zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin said: "There must be a colony somewhere near me..."

This is the time of year when the babies leave the nest.
Also the time of year when some are transported to a new home by some kind soul.

in fact the animal in Zeedman's cage is a juvenile.

Can they jump? My thought ould be to grow your kale in self-watering containers on a table/ trug of some kind...

Garden in peace.