Hmmm, we have had groundhogs in the past (not on this property), but they never bothered anything, at least not that we knew of. We've never trapped anything, although I might consider a trap for a skunk! We have rabbits, squirrels, deer, sometimes a fox or two. Coyotes are in the area but I've only seen one on our yard (and I do prefer they stay far, far away!). Is there some kind of spray, etc. that would deter the groundhogs from the plants? Or could you use plants that groundhogs do not like? IMHO, that would be better. We enjoy our wildlife.

PS - I would assume they would move the groundhog to a wooded area somewhere, not private property (neighbor).

We have similar laws in NY with respect to groundhogs. We have a few on our property, and yes they do go through our garden. At first it really pissed me off and I looked into humane removal options (yes, pricey), but actually now I love watching the little guys and I decided to live and let live. I had the same thoughts about the babies as olychick.

Where do we/they draw the line between animals? Eg back to my original question? Possum? Raccoons? Rats? Mice?

Yes, they are part of the food chain and serve a purpose. Every living thing does. Including mosquitoes. Do you swat them?

What about Sen. John Thune on AR-15s: "In my state, they use them to shoot prairie dogs and, you know, other types of varmints.

We have deer, foxes, turkey, and yes groundhogs. Not had an issue before this year with the flower beds tho.

Well, mosquito's place in the food chain is obviously to reduce the human population, so, yes I swat them. But I provide rich bird habitat hoping they will eat them instead.

Since you are unhappy with what they are doing, kudos for removing them humanely.

Hopefully you won't have other critters taking their place.

Are there repellents of some sort?

My neighbor, a retired veterinarian, was involved in our county’s birth control for raccoons program for years. Not condoms on the critters, BC in food.

“It is legal to kill a nuisance raccoon if you hold a valid hunting license when it is done by a humane method” - Florida

Same goes for gators.

Warn your daughter to look out for groundhogs taking a dip before diving in, because of their ”swimming abilities”.

I still have a lot of questions. If you don't want to kill an animal because of its place in the food chain, isn't BC the same thing? You are still upsetting the balance. Just in the most human way possible.

And if it is only about balance, you should not kill anything. Right?

When we had squirrels in an attic, the trappers said the traps habe to be checked every day, and that can't be in the trap more than 24 hours.. Cruelty. So I checked every day, called the trapper who came to get it, and they, um, dispatched it. 11 times in 2 weeks.

(When we trap chipmunks, we take them to the park and let them out. Apparently that is against the law. We do it surreptitiously.)

@mtnrdredux_gw What is BC referenced in your post? eta: maybe you mean birth control? For animals? for us? I'll wait to see before I respond.

Groundhogs can do an amazing amount of damage. We used to trap them in a havaheart trap then release them in park. I knew someone who would hook them up to the exhaust pipe on a car. Put the trap in a plastic bag and euthanize them. I could never bring myself to do that. Im just too squeamish.

There was a slug in my house the other night and i had to call a friend to get ridof it. Threw it in the garden.

Thanks for the information, Trailrunner. I don't know if they're moles or groundhogs, but something is all over our property. I've tried the worms in the holes w/out much success, so am very happy to hear about ammonia and it not hurting plants.

I don't have any first hand knowledge of groundhogs, but I do think it makes sense that they only want licensed individuals trapping. I imagine at that size, you could end up harming other critters like cats or other native species if you don't know what you're doing. Plus it does make sense that if you're doing humane trapping, the traps need to be checked so that an animal isn't starving or dehydrating to death while trapped. My only personal experience is trapping rats (which I just bought rat traps and never asked if it was legal or illegal) and some neighbors paid to have racoons removed when they moved into our neighborhood. I think the racoon catching was done humanely as well. Not sure if that was required.

In Maine, you have options other than to hire a humane trapper. You can shoot them, you can poison them, you can attempt to repel them(as Trailrunner mentioned). See the cooperative extension article.Cooperative Extension Bulletin

Repelling can work, particularly in a small space like under a deck or porch. Dogs are also a powerful repellent. My old girl, who is no longer with us, would dig up the burrow, and snap their necks. (Sorry if that is too vivid for you, I grew up on a farm and I live in the country. Circle of lofe and all that.)

A neighbor once hired a human trapper, IIRC it was $50, and she did check the traps daily for him. "Checking the traps" just means looking if something got caught or took the bait. It saves the trapper a trip to come back and find there is nothing for him/her to do yet. It probably saves you money too, since each time he/she has to come back is more work. S/He has to check the traps often, what if someone's kitty gets in accidentally, it would be irresponsible for the wildlife specialist to not check the traps often. Once a groundhog is captured, it needs to relocated ethically. That means it cannot be relocated onto private land without the owner's permission. It can go to park land, and it should be across 3 bodies of water(creeks and streams count). A nursing mother cannot be relocated without her babies.

Currently, we arent seeing many woodchucks. Unfortunately what I am seeing is porcupines. I am very unhappy about it. I do not want another quill incident with the dog.

We had a terrible groundhog problem at our previous house. They had taken up residence underneath the cedar shed in the back and dug holes everywhere. My father lived with us for a few years and one morning he went out to check his tomato plants and accidentally stepped into a new hole, severely twisting his ankle. They were also burrowing underneath our deck and making tunnels by the foundation. We didn't realize how bad it was until we noticed damp spots on the concrete block wall in the basement utility room. We had lived there for 25 years and never had that problem. DH had our contractor out to inspect the roof, gutters and downspouts and everything was fine. The contractor was also replacing a few of the mahogany boards in the deck and discovered the burrows along the foundation wall.

I felt like Elmer Fudd with that rascally rabbit and called a licensed trapper. He set Havahart traps and captured 4 and carted them off - cage al all. In NJ it's illegal to relocate wildlife but if they are causing damage it is legal to kill them. I didn't ask what he did with them but I assume he didn't relocate them. The Human Society had a booth at our County Agricultural Center and I asked them about it. I was surprised then they said the best method was to quickly and as humanely as possible dispatch them.

Where we live we have raccoons and yes, there are laws about trapping them and then releasing them back into the forest.

Mtn, I don’t think that (even in Maine) if anyone traps a ground hog, he is allowed to release it anywhere but on the owners property. Alternatively, the trapper can destroy, euthanize, Kill, murder the critter.

And he is charging you a handsome price but wanted to know if your vacationing DD and friends would check his traps for him? Nervy.

Every year we have woodchucks that we think people have trapped and dropped off here, you know, cuz we’re out of the waay, out of sight country.

Woodchucks (ground hogs) are beautiful, clean vegan animals. Unfortunately, they can cause damage to gardens and property (digging next to a foundation, for example). They are not dangerous and can be fun to watch, depending on their choice of snack.

I think Mister Private Trapper Person is being deceitful.

We have groundhogs. They are fascinating. The underground homes have rooms. They have a nursery, bathroom, and 80” bigscreenbig screen. Starlink. You name it. They are suposed to be tasty when roasted. When one got caught in the trap that we set for the fox, it chattered at DH and DS. We let it go.

trap for the fox??? 😩The fox would hunt the groundhogs and lots of other vermin. I LOVE our foxes...keeps the rat and squirrel and rabbit populations in check.

We have something similar for opossums in California. I had them under the house and, unlike skunks, mothballs did not repell them. Fuethermore, our HVAC is vented through the floor so those little [products of unwed couples] used insulation from our ductwork to make their [insert ANY bad word here] nests. There was a family of four. $1k back in 2007!

[insert ALL THE BAD WORDS here]

Easy, 1929! There are opossum fans around. I am a big fan. Marilyn C is also. They are sweet, gentle, misunderstood marsupials which are beneficial. Please don’t hurt them but call a humane trapper. But, sure, I understanf why you don’t want any critter helping himself to your insulation. Possums eat mice and slugs.

Mnt needs Jed Clampett.

I like possums too. Don't they eat ticks?

Ground hogs are interesting creatures. The male travels from den to den to impregnate the female. Ground hogs lived in the seawall and lawn at the riverhouse until I eliminated their favorite food which in my case was clover. The ground hogs must like to live very near their food supply. My ground hogs moved to my neighbors where they already had family. We see groundhogs there but never on my property.

I wonder if covering the flower beds with netting would convince the groundhogs to relocate.

@petalique i had a humane trapper take care of them. Here in CA we have small houses and small yards. They left my yard absolutely in inundated with fleas to the point i had to have it sprayed after they were gone. I have dogs and never before or after had to spray the yard. I don’t hate them unless they are doing damage.

We have groundhogs at our country properties, and I have about 12 of this at each place (in the gardens). You could give it a try.

https://www.harborfreight.com/search?q=solar%20mole%20and%20gopher%20chaser

Fleas are ugly things. I can only imagine how the GHs could easily take over a community with sweet houses and lawns and yummy gardens. I always feel awful when i see animals covered with fleas or being hounded by flies. Good for you for getting a humane trapper. Even if the animal must be put down, it’s best to do that in a humane way.

Summers, you have found these helpful? Moles have eaten my fragrant dianthus nd some old fashion single pink daisy like mums. Devils.

@olychick not around here. The foxes mostly eat chicken: Free-range, well fed layers, and the occasional rooster.

I had so a good laugh at the thought of this guy actually expecting young women to be comfortable going out around your property to check his traps! “Yuck, no way!” is what most of DD’s girlfriends would say.

I love groundhogs and opossums and foxes and... Part of the reason he may want someone at the house to check the trap is there are laws about how long a trapped animal can be left in a trap. Too long and the 'humane' goes out the window. I bet at least one of the 20 year-olds would be glad to check the trap.

Also, one thing to note is that usually relocating a groundhog should not be done until late summer to be sure the babies have moved out on their own.

We had a groundhog here once. Cutest guy ever. The raccoons drove him out. They also drove the opossums away. Too bad. Both are much nicer than raccoons who can be very nasty.

So, final thought: I care because they are living creatures who have a place in the balance of the eco-system. I know most here would probably disagree, but I just don't think humans are any more important than any other living animal. Just think for instance, without insects, not one of us would survive.

In my view (which I realize not everyone subscribes to), we care because they are sentient beings. I don't kill anything. I just don't think it's my right. Not roaches, not mosquitoes, not ants, nope, nada, zilch.

@Springroz that's too bad and very different than here. People keep chickens (free range in the daylight) but fence them into the pastures to keep them safe instead of slaughtering the foxes. The foxes then keep the rats and mice under control that go part and parcel with having chickens.

I'm a little baffled by the idea that a 20-year old can't check a trap. It's not like a snap trap, potentially filled with blood and guts, right?

@olychick we prefer to think of it as balance. Two foxes in 10 years is hardly slaughter.

The trraps are like a cage. The GH wouldnt be injured or anything. I would guess your daughter is a responsible young woman who would be able to take a look and ket him know.

I wasn’t thinking clearly. The traps are easy to just peek at to be sure there is no critter in it. Else the poor thing can die of thirst, hunger ot heat stroke.

@petalique, I am not sure about mums. It won't hurt to give it a try. I have young rose gardens in the country.

When he quoted me the prices, I told him I won't be there, and my DD is there. He replied "that's ok I do a lot of work when there is no one there." Prob because we are largely second homes and real Mainers know what to do with critters. He charges X fixed, plus Y per animal. It is his job to check the traps.

Could my DD and/or her friends check the traps? Of course. Am I going to assign them that task? Absolutely not. I would not want to, and that is why I hired someone. His rate is based on checking the traps once a day. And no it was not $50 .... omg not anywhere even near that.

We have seen a groundhog around, but the trapper says there are no holes in our yard. Our approach to wildlife is to fence in what we want to protect rather than have to kill anything or even use pesticides. I think new pool cleaning people left the gates open and/or nearby constructions disturbed somebody's habitat.

That said, I would be lying if I said I begrudged anyone killing nuisance animals that are not endangered, especially if it is a one off problem rather than a routine. I personally however could not do it. I can squish bugs but that is about it.

I was only joking about him releasing them in the neighborhood. He does not. My DH said he should release him in Pennsylvania, hahaha.

The g-hog has not been anywhere near the house and I think there is only one. He had done a number on over $1000 worth of annuals. I think bleach is a great solution but the area is too large and open for that to work and plus is it poolside so would be a nuisance to humans, too.

It is interesting how varied the rules and customs are. I didn't even know about many of these laws.

A few years ago I was in a feed store looking at traps for G hogs. One custumer told me that they have a way of dealing with groundhogs (GH) that begin destroying plants or digging. She did not want to elaborate, but clearly she shot and killed them. A lot of people feel forced to do this.

Here is why people choose to shoot them.

They can destroy a lot of plantings — flowers or vegetables (that represent a sizable investment in money, time and labor and a lot of people count on gardens to supplement groceries.

They can be very tough to trap. They are wary.

Even if and when you trap them, your choices are limited. Wildlife regulations usually prohibit releasing them on property that is not your own.

You can destro the critter once it’s trapped, but there are few easy, humane ways to do this. Submerging the trap into a deep barrel of water is not kind to the critter as it will suffer as it deowns over several minutes.

So, in many places, people use their 22.

There’s plenty of space for them in the woods, but GHs don’t do woods. They like open spaces with hedgerows, or developed land where homeowners have made food gathering easy — gardens, vegetables, annuals, perennials. I have videos of GH dining on tall garden phlox and milkweed. If it would just eat weeds, and not plantings, and did not dig up the drip line areas of our home’s foundation, I might feel less annoyed. One year every single butternut sqaush was ”sampled.”

If someone is charging a dear price to remove critters, they should check and tend their own traps or arrange a discount with a homeowner if they expect the residents to help him out.

I was told by wildlife people that relocating critters is not necessarily a kindly solution. It stresses the animal to suddenly be dumped into another animal’s territory. It has none of its own burrows of food supply and may have left young behind.

I don’t see any easy solutions. There are no shortages of GH (woodchucks).

After my father passed, my mother saw a groundhog appear from under the small shed he had built that was in the backyard. It was living underneath it. She immediately called someone to remove the shed. The groundhog lost his home and left.

We had beavers when we lived on the lake. They were interesting to see swimming across the lake around sunset, but not so cute when they built a dam at the first lake (neighborhood had several). Since they were eating some of our trees, we called the "beaver dude," as we liked to call him. Think scruffy Crocodile Hunter. He was licensed by the state and had to turn all of this trapped beavers over to some state department. The only one I saw after it was caught was much larger than it appeared when swimming, and look just like a giant rat. Who likes rats, right?!

I thought Caroline had commented on this yesterday, but not seeing it mow. I got ammonia & bowls today- need to see when the best time is to try & evict him from the shed.

Not really wanting to do this in the dark. Any advice welcome!

@ninasmom I deleted my posts since the thread had taken a different turn . There isn't any specific time to put the ammonia out. We had an opening in our foundation and an access that was boarded over inside the basement. So we made sure to keep the opening in the foundation open as we didn't want baby GH's or the adult GH to get trapped inside !! But we piled up vegetation that was easily moved in front of the hole outside so we could tell when it was in there or out., by whether it was pushed out or in. Anyway if there isn't a distinct hole then just set the bowls around where you see signs of activity and make sure the shed is closed so the fumes are really bad .GHs are diurnal . The main thing is for it to smell strongly of ammonia so it won't come back in. You do have to figure out how it's getting in if you want to be able to stop putting the ammonia . Otherwise just keep it smelling terrible for about a week or so and the GH will find somewhere else to live I would think.

Activity: Groundhogs are diurnal (active during the day) from spring to fall. Most activity occurs during the early morning and early evening hours, at which groundhogs emerge from their burrows to gather food. Hibernation: Groundhogs are true hibernators, entering a deep sleep in October and emerging in early spring.

@User this is brilliant!! One question though. Did you smell the ammonia in the house? The only groundhogs we have had have not been anywhere near the house. One house we had 3 acres with a small ditch at one end and the GHs made a home there and had babies. No problem, we enjoyed watching the process - it was on the far end of the property - away from the house.

No we have a full finished basement. There is a boarded over area that was created for plumbing access. That area is dirt and has only about a 2 ft high space but it is pretty big. Anyway the ground hog found a break in the exterior foundation and excavated it and got into the crawlspace but couldn't get into the house/basement proper. The ammonia smell was confined to that crawlspace and didn't even come out into the basement around the wood cover. We were very lucky that this worked so quickly !! Nothing could have stood those fumes !! When we took the wood piece off then we could definitely smell the fumes as we filled the dishpan with 1/2 gallon of ammonia. We only had to do the one dishpan. Hope this works well for you!

Thanks so much Caroline! This guy is big- living the life & thus has a huge hole. I will try the others to ensure he doesn’t get trapped. Many thanks

I also got some solar stakes that supposedly repel them, We will see. I never factored in all these wildlife- snakes, mice, bears, deer, foxes, etc . It wasn’t such an imposition 20 yrs ago. Now they have nowhere to go and only getting worse.