Groundhog Control
7 years ago
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- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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Groundhog Woodchuck Fun and Games #2
Comments (150)Hi all, kind of new to this forum. I might have posted last year, but I don't recall. Anyway, we have app. 2/3 acre here behind deer fence, with all the rest (woods, fields, pond) not. As you've probably assumed, the fenced-in area is for my good stuff -- my daylily collection, hostas, and new-to-me veg garden. (Never have had one before.) At one end of the fenced area is a smallish barn -- with a nice little burrow letting out into my garden. One of the windows in my home office looks out onto the garden, and all this summer, I watched the resident woodchuck waddle out and start eating. He started with my broccoli before I knew he was there. I won't kill an animal, and I didn't have a Hav-a-Heart trap, so he (she? it?) and I immediately came to an understanding. He/she/it can eat all the grass, clover, and chickweed he/she/it wants. The daylilies, hostas, and veg are mine. And it's worked very well, probably because there is so much grass here. If he/she/it starts waddling too closely to the veg bed, I make a big to-do on the patio, jumping up and down & yelling. He/she/it immediately makes for the burrow. Yes I know, someone here's going to tell me it's just a matter of time before the thing destroys my garden, and I take to extreme measures. Nope, I'm with the Marsha who leaves unmowed grass and a natural buffet buffer for critters. If necessary, I'll buy a Hav-a-Heart trap, catch the thing, and release it in the state park down at the end of our lane. Anyway, maybe there's a lot of joking on this thread, but I am not reading through the whole thing to find out. :))) So my comments are actually pretty serious ones. Anyway again, I can't worry about one fat woodchuck -- not when I have mice behind the walls here and in the pantry and two cats who are sleeping on the job!...See MoreGroundhogs, I hate them, HELP
Comments (7)Here's the latest attempt to keep the "fur ball" aka groundhog from eating everything in site. Everyone in the neighborhood thought I was having a party. A friend and I blew up 100 cheap balloons. Strung 3 at a time on a piece of twine and tied them to the chain link fence in the back of the house, especially around the gate where we know the groundhog gets in. Then we put some on the arbor in the front yard in one of my flower beds that has last years WS lupin in it that is getting huge. Mind you it looks crazy out there and I should have taken pics but it was so hot, we where dying out there. I left the hose on all day with the sprayer nozzle off just in case he/she got inside the fenced yard. I was planning to zap him/her with the jet spray. OK thought if I did it enough, it would learn. Then we waited all day and no sign of the critter around the plants. Neighbor across the street called and said he was in the veggie garden eating away and he scared him off. Now this veggie garden is surrounded by chicken wire that is down 2 feet in the ground and the groundhog dug a hole outside the fence and came out in a hole inside the veggie garden. Told neigbor about the balloon idea and he went up to the local Walgreens and bought himself a bag of 100 balloons, blew them up and put them around his yard, on the fence of the veggie garden and on a pole right beside the hole inside the veggie garden. He put his ballons low on the ground same as I did. Then he sat and waited to see what happened. No breeze blowing the balloons but they where there. Low and behold, the groundhog started coming out of the hole in neigbors veggie garden, froze when it saw the balloons and retreated back in the hole. score 1 for neighbor, zip for the "beast". Hubby came home and saw the "beast" toddling up the yard beside the driveway. He opened the car door and watched as the "beast" went to the gate. Beast saw balloons and moved away, walked further down to another spot he can get in and saw more balloons. I'm watching for the critter and watched him try the one other spot and oops balloons. He toddled off to his hole. Score for me, zip for the "beast". Would be nice if this works for good but I'm not counting on it. Would prefer to just get rid of the damn thing for good. Have visions of sending a firecracker down the hole and running away and seeing body parts come flying out. couldn't happen to a nicer critter, but my luck would be it explodes the hole and the groundhog and takes a few trees down with it and they land on my house causing damage. Now how do I explain to the insurance company that the damage just happened? Fran...See MoreAny control for woodchuck/groundhog?
Comments (5)Yeah, they look like big 'ol beavers when you can't see the tails. DH and I debated what they were, but my sister was very familiar with them since she lives a little further out. They seem to be very intelligent about traffic. They will wait and wait for traffic before crossing, often standing tall to watch like an alert furry person. Sheez they're big, and not friendly, I hear....See Morethe biggest, most arrogant groundhog!!
Comments (23)I can hardly believe some of the ignorance [as in, just not knowing] I have just read here. And some good advice also. One groundhog does not threaten a garden, and a house foundation??? baloney and I mean baloney big time.] and yes I am a contractor and a union carpenter] However a groundhog, rabbits, squirrels,skunks, deer, insects,slugs, voles, moles and mice to name a few, working different "shifts" will do damage to your plants. Too bad all the hybrids and use of pesticides that threw the natural balance of nature all out of wack. Apples are good for trapping, truth be told, they prefer bananas. Natural foods are dandelions, timothy, plantain, stuff you don't want in your yard or garden anyway. yes they climb trees for fruit and to survey their surroundings. Fact is , they dig about 5 feet down with an escape tunnel or two, you see more than that, you have many. Usually one clean hole about 5-6 inches in diameter is all you will find, till the winter, when they will most likely go to the woods to dig hibernation dens anyway. They will move some serious dirt around then. I discouraged one by simply putting some sticks and a rock over the hole. He left, but I found an orphan little while later, and now I got one anyway. He pretty much steers clear of the garden, not real sure why. Shooting groundhogs, ok, if your not close to any neighbors,as in a city, a 22 can go well over a mile, gasoline in the hole???, and you were thinking of going green, wth, are you serious, that's just stupid, I actually know a guy that heaved the pavement up in the rd pouring gas into a ditch that went under the rd and lighting it. Haveahart or animal control,"(yeah, the latter prolly won't do anything], actually make sense, and yes, there are areas that they will not "harm" anything and can carry out their part of the eco system without the ignorance of man interrupting. Oh, you mean they were put here for a reason other than to annoy tomatoes growers. Imagine that. Yes, meat fed fox urine smells real real bad, talking drops here, funny thing about that, "oh, did I mention fox's like a variety of veggies and fruits also>, anytime I ever went hunting and used it as a cover scent, guess what followed my trail later that evening, yep, a fox. Now, I have nothing against fox, but you really want one hanging around your place, they have been known to carry rabies, as can coyotes, yeah, they like veggies too. Oh and raccoons. Course, a lot of these guys don't come out til dark, so you don't see them, but blame it on the solitary groundhog. There are ppl in this area don't even know deer visit their gardens at night, just weird . Now, addressing Jenny, groundhogs don't have that large of a territory, and if it was moved away, it will not come back, sure it's happy where it is, your solution was the right solution, good job...See More- 7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
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esox07 (4b) Wisconsin