# groundhog : prevent



## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Any secrets on how to prevent them from getting into your garden ?


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

YES! DO NOT PLANT:

green beans
sweet corn
squash
spinach
kale
cabbage
cauliflower
lettuce
beets
sunflowers
chard
strawberries
pumpkins
peas



.......grass is okay



geo


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## woodsy_gardener (May 27, 2007)

I tried a live trap baited with carrots and lettuce and no go. I read online that they will ignore traps in a lush garden and you need a special bait with an attractant. Tomcat Rat poison blocks at Lowes contains an attractant for rodents. Groundhogs are rodents. I baited the trap with the poison block and caught the f***er. I felt like torturing him to death but settled for a high powered pellet gun shot to the brain.

Good luck!


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Sound like Man has not come with a good way to get rid of them other than killing them or trapping them .


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## Cindy in NY (May 10, 2002)

My sister put an electric fence around her garden and that kept the groundhogs out.


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## Use Less (Nov 8, 2007)

If you get rid of one, or one family group, it's only a matter of time, usually short, before another finds the den & moves in. Multiple occupants tend to follow the same path, though, so if you find a hole and trap one, keep re-setting the trap in the same place. Chucks use part of the den as a toileting area, so my attempts at making the den too nasty by filling with used kitty-litter didn't do much. Did get rid of the litter, though. A few years ago, we had 14 chucks plus a kit fox, a possum & a turkey vulture find their way into a trap set in a single location. We let the fox & the vulture go (carefully.) Sue


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## geo in mi (Nov 14, 2008)

Here's some pretty good info on woodchuck control...(notice, control, not prevention...) 

http://icwdm.org/handbook/rodents/woodchucks.asp

Here in Michigan, it's nearly time for woodchucks to hibernate for the winter. I may see one out scavenging, but for the most part, they are getting sleepy. However, when springtime rolls around, I make early patrols of my woods areas to locate any dens. As the sun warms the ground, they will soon get active, and you can tell which dens are active by the fresh excavation at the burrow entrance.

I've got two of those flexible clothes drier vents--sixteen feet length in all, so when I see activity, I go out and scare them back into the den. Then I simply hook the vent to my riding lawnmower exhaust and put the other end down into the burrow. Generally they will be too scared to think of coming out the back way and the fifteen to twenty minute saturation of carbon monoxide will get rid of them. Before they have babies. I also watch carefully and have the twenty-two ready in case I see others. You will want to check your state's rules on hunting of woodchucks--some require a license, some don't don't. 

Because woodchucks, once established, seldom go more than a couple of hundred feet from their dens to wander about and eat, your early springtime efforts should help until late June or early July--that's when animals from other areas do wander and try to establish new territories of their own. That's why you will have constant pressure on your garden areas. By then, the weeds and vegetation around possible sites is so thick that you'll have to resort to the usual means of control(or damage control): fences, cages, row covers, rifle, live traps, electric fences, bait poisons(if allowed in your state), dogs, and whatever you can think of to protect YOUR veggies.

Hope this helps

geo


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## bee (May 12, 2002)

If you have ever skinned a groundhog you know they have shoulders like a linebacker. They are mammalian earth movers. The young ones will climb trees. I have come to hate them even more strongly than raccoons for their shear distruction of my efforts.

I fence and they dig under; I put a 20lb rock in the hole and they dug under that!("put a rock in MY hole? well we'll just see about THAT!") If I had the money I'd use the "Moat" system. A Double fence five feet apart with dogs inside. This would stop the 'hogs,rabbits,raccoons and deer. Put the chicken pen in the middle of the garden area and top it with netting and I don't even have to worry about hawks. Crows have yet to be a problem.


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## Swamp_walker (Sep 30, 2010)

Trap them at their den entrance...or slightly inside to avoid non-tagets. Sometimes it will be years before others show up or it may be only weeks. Either way, its not time consuming or hard to do. I put those little survey flags (4" or so orange flag on a 18" wire) thru the chain at all the traps/entrances. When a catch is made the flag will be pulled down so i dont have to tend them daily...just when the flag is down. I use 120 size body grip traps set over the entrance...it works like a large rat trap for quick dispatch. Check your laws as they can be specific as when you can trap them and how far from the garden you can trap them. Their meat is pretty good and the hide, although looks mangy from rubbing in holes all the time, makes a nice thin leather when the hair is removed. Its used alot for drum and banjo skins. If you dont like the idea of "wasting" them to protect your garden, it shouldnt be too hard to find a buyer for the leather and/or meat. They are not a game animal here so its legal to sell the meat. Hope this helps as its worked for us for 30 years or better. Here is a link to the traps i use....check your laws as states differ on trap size for land. Certain size only on land, certain size off the ground, and any size in water. I "think" most states allow 5x5" on land, which will work of ground hogs. No bait or sent, just blind set over their holes.
http://www.minntrapprod.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=204_21_277&products_id=89


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## Wintergrower_OH (Sep 21, 2010)

Geo . Got a little more educated on what need for fence . Thanks . I would not thought that they would climb the fence . Seems like a electric fence is order for both deer and ground hog .


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## woodsy_gardener (May 27, 2007)

Wintergrower_OH said:


> Geo . Got a little more educated on what need for fence . Thanks . I would not thought that they would climb the fence . Seems like a electric fence is order for both deer and ground hog .


Use 2 fences. A single strand wire 3 feet off the ground for deer. A 2 foot chicken wire fence 4 inches off the gound for groundhogs and others. (*****, possums)

Both fences should be baited with strips of aluminum foil with peanut butter.


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## Swamp_walker (Sep 30, 2010)

woodsy_gardener said:


> Use 2 fences. A single strand wire 3 feet off the ground for deer. A 2 foot chicken wire fence 4 inches off the gound for groundhogs and others. (*****, possums)
> 
> Both fences should be baited with strips of aluminum foil with peanut butter.


Sure sounds like it would work but what is the aluminum foil/peanut butter for? Is it just to get them shocked quick and educated? My garden by the house i have no problems with but the ones i plant in the pastures always gets "preyed" apon. They are pretty big and ive been trying to come up with a deterrant for all pests that wont cost a fortune. No ground hogs....just deer, *****, coyotes, rabbits, and pigs. Your "fence" on a solar charger may be my best option so far as there is no power near either.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

In my garden half was planted with castor beans, the other half had no castor beans. The half with castor beans had no groundhog damage, the half without the groundhogs ate all the leaves off my pumpkins and most of the potato plants. 

They can be easily trapped with an apple slice, the apple has to be cut so the groundhog can smell it.


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