Can Groundhogs Transmit Diseases to People? Favorite foods include the following plants and crops: Alfalfa Apples Berries Carrots Clover Corn Dandelions Lettuce Soybeans As a groundhog prepares for hibernation by consuming even more food, there may be considerable damage to backyard gardens and farm areas.
Signs of Damage. Bite marks and hollowed-out crops are indicators, especially as groundhogs bulk up during summer usually August in anticipation of fall and hibernation. This means the opposite holds true for winter, as groundhogs stay in their burrows and avoid moving about. Gnawed fruit trees and jagged or worn-away siding may indicate scent marking or spots where groundhogs chew at a surface to wear down the constant growth of their incisors.
Groundhogs have been known to eat into underground power cables, leading to electrical outages. Even hoses in motor vehicles are susceptible as a groundhog works to chisel its teeth. The underground activity of groundhogs can also harm pastures and fields, by churning the ground and potentially damaging farm equipment. Fortunately, this is not a widespread problem. What Are the Sounds and Signs of Groundhogs? Where to Find Them. Seasonal Behavior.
For example: Fall and Winter: From mid-October through February, groundhogs remain in their burrows as they hibernate. This makes sense in light of their eating habits, as they pack on weight and live off their fat reserves when temperatures drop.
Spring: As the days warm up, groundhogs are at their most active for two main reasons. First, hibernation ends and groundhogs emerge from their burrows in the mornings and afternoons. Second, spring marks the mating season during March and April as males seek out the burrows of nearby females. Groundhogs will be most active and noticeable during this time. Summer: Hotter temperatures force this rodent into its burrow for the vast majority of the day.
Groundhogs will only venture out at dawn and dusk to locate food. Dig the fence into the ground at least two feet deep. The fence should not be a straight line from the ground up. Instead, try to give it a slight curve at the top to make it harder to climb, and have it extend parallel to the ground at the very bottom that is dug into the earth. With this feature, groundhogs will stop digging once they hit the parallel portion rather than realizing they can back up and dig underneath it.
Introducing New Food Sources. Sanitize Your Yard. Treatment Methods. Eliminate Nesting Opportunities. Maintain your yard regularly and clean up piles of leaves, sticks, and wood. Keep your grass cut short.
Fill in any dips or small holes that are already in your yard. Sprinkle or spray the substance around the groundhog burrow and the plants that have been eaten. Ammonia, red pepper flakes, talcum powder, and garlic also make suitable woodchuck repellents and are often found in the home.
According to experts, antifreeze as a groundhog poison is not effective, so homeowners may want to try one of the other repellents instead. To get rid of groundhogs, plan out an exit route away from the property, then place repellent in the burrows nearest your property. Place another repellent in further burrows closer to the exit one to two days later, repeating the process as necessary until the groundhogs are gone. One standard solution is flooding the tunnels, which causes woodchucks to look for drier land.
Another strategy is fumigating burrows with carbon monoxide cartridges, which are available at home supply stores. Fumigation requires sealing the burrow and all nearby holes. Keep in mind that while these solutions may remove groundhogs, they can also cause lawn damage. Additionally, fumigation is not only dangerous to humans but can also be lethal to animals. Homeowners looking for a humane solution might wish to consider another strategy. Another option is to scare groundhogs out of their burrows, encouraging them to take shelter elsewhere.
While visually-based scare tactics such as scarecrows and pinwheels do work in the short term, they rarely provide lasting relief as the critters get used to them. Auditory and tactile tools, such as solar stakes that send out ultrasonic pulses, tend to be more effective in the long term in scaring away groundhogs and other digging pests.
To humanely trap a woodchuck, set up a trap close to but not blocking the burrow entrance. But still, it was war I was getting tired of my garden being devoured by these creatures. They were enjoying the fruits of my labor and we weren't. We, without realizing it, found the solution to our woodchuck problems, a tenacious terrier. We picked him up from the animal shelter, knowing he had behavioral issues, but I figured he was just bored in life and needed a reason for living.
Our woodchuck problem was his deliverance in life. I put him on a 25' lead, I hold on to the end and let him bark his head off down the woodchuck holes. Four woodchucks gone!! There are about four woodchuck holes that he checks out everyday, if he doesn't bark I know they are not in there.
Recently, they tried coming back to establish a hibernating den. Big mistake on there part, my terrier was on them. My dog is happy, he has a job, I am happy we are enjoying the fruits of my labor. We have baby ground hog's, I have seen two. They don't set the trap off, so how to trap them? We trapped one parent, don't want to trap the other because of the babies. Need them gone, starting garden soon. They are eating grass. I would like to trap together. One baby hissed at me so I am not getting close enough to pick them up.
Which would be great, then I could put in trap and feed until I get the next one. Then the parent. Please advice.
Can a planter box be raised high enough to keep woodchucks from climbing up? And if so, how high is that? Woodchucks happen to be very good climbers. One suggestion is to add some chicken wire across the top but keep it loose and wobbly to discourage woodchucks from climbing over it.
Burpee sells a small animal barrier that you could see online as a reference. I found that raising the planter box and putting thin sheet metal that you can find at Lowes or Home Depot on the legs will prevent them from climbing as they have no surface to hold on to and slide.
A thin layer of silicon grease will be an added deterrent. I have a vacant groundhog burrow in my crawlspace. What's the most soil saving way to deal with it; try to cave it in and fill with what she excavated or move the excavated soil back into the hole and how would that be done? Groundhog tunnels can sometimes be extensive, with 25 feet to 40 feet of tunnels, some as much as 5 feet deep, and a few chambers.
Is this crawl space directly underneath your home? If so, it might be best to have a contractor take a look at it. Concrete pumping companies can fill in deep holes in and around the foundation with a special mix the service is found under various names, such as pressure grouting.
You can search online for options, or your local hardware store might know. Yes, ground hogs can climb. Have had a ground hog problems these past 2 years and have frequently seen them climbing 6' high into small trees in search of tender shoots to eat. Would not have believed they could climb that high until I saw it repeatedly myself. Regretfully you have to be committed to do whatever is necessary to get rid of them. I know the young are cute but it is best to be direct and professional and use extreme prejudice to eliminate ground hogs.
They are very intelligent and will learn quickly to stay one step ahead so it is best to be direct and decisive.
I have had a groundhog and babies live under my deck for over 10 years. I left them alone. But yesterday, one of them attacked my dog who thankfully only had a ripped lip and snout wounds. And that was only a baby that did that! If the mother would have met up with my dog, I believe my dog would have died. It is time to get rid of them.
My deck is very large and wide and I cannot get underneath it at all. I heard moth balls work. Has anyone ever heard of that? Woodchucks can get rabies. I bought 6 boxes of moth balls as the groundhogs are under my house eating the wood studs and they didn't do a thing, the groundhog pulled the moth balls out side, so I put the moth balls back under the house and next day they were back outside and the black pepper didn't work for me other.
My new tenant under the metal shed in our fenced yard came a day or so ago My husky chased it back under the shed for now ,which was a new exciting change from the squirrels and birds she usually chases, so I hope that's the last we have seen of it My neighbors say we have a groundhog living under our porch and it is always coming on our porch.
I have only seen a cat. It is hard to get under the porch and I'm not sure what to do or where to look. Do they give off a bad smell or could that be the cat? Worried about any damage that may be happening under there! Purchase some animal repellent at the store. I found it for around eight or nine dollars last year at Walmart. Although animal repellent may work for discouraging groundhogs from eating your vegetables, it is not strong enough to get rid of groundhogs. Plus, you will need to keeping spraying repellent in your garden every day.
I've heard they taste great. The best method is to braise the groundhog like you would a rabbit. Since I'm not into guns, I don't use this method.
Note: Be sure to remove the scent glands from under the armpits. If you don't, they can ruin the meat. The scent gland looks like a yellow kernel of fat. The best groundhog control is removal and prevention. Once you've successfully removed every groundhog from your property, take preventive measures.
Woodchucks don't eat wood at all. The saying, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood," is just a saying and nothing more. Their main food sources are vegetation, grass, nuts, and small insects, like grubs. They will also occasionally eat smaller animals. These animals usually weigh from four to nine pounds, but in ideal conditions, they can weigh as much as 31 pounds.
On average, they live about six years but have been known to live in zoos for as long as 14 years. Groundhogs make underground tunnel systems that feature holes as entrances and exits in the ground. These provide safety for the groundhogs when a predator is in their midst but are unsightly wreaking havoc on lawns. A member of the marmot family and the relative of ground squirrels, the groundhog is a lowland creature that hibernates during the winter months.
A separate hole is usually dug just for this purpose. If you plan on killing the animal in its burrow, don't do it during winter because their hole will be closed off. New tunnels are dug when the animal awakens in the spring, so methods such as trapping and poisoning are best done during spring. Groundhogs can usually be seen standing on their hind legs in an alert position, guarding themselves and other groundhogs. The reason some people call them whistle pigs is because they'll let out a shrill whistle to warn other groundhogs of danger.
Sometimes, instead of hiding, groundhogs will go on the offensive. Stay away from groundhogs. They can be aggressive animals when they feel threatened, and they have sharp claws.
To them, everyone is a predator, which is yet another reason to oust them from your property. Can I just spray the dirt with it? Answer: Yes, just so you spray it in the area where the groundhog will enter or exit.
Answer: I used half of a small bottle of ammonia. That sounds like a lot, but ammonia is cheap, and I would rather have too much than not enough. Question: How can I ensure that the groundhog is out before I close a hole? I don't want to trap him under my house. Answer: Groundhogs can have tunnels two miles long. I think he'd just start another one to get out from under your house. Their holes also have an entrance and an exit, since they are tunnels, not just holes.
Question: What if I only trap the adult groundhogs and leave the baby groundhogs? Answer: It will depend on how developed the babies are. If the babies are small, they could starve to death without the mother. If they are well-developed, they could learn to live on their own. Question: I have a groundhog living under my house in a tunnel created between the floor joists. There is no tunnel apparent around my house. How the heck did it get in there, the entrance is a metal door?
Answer: They probably won't like the smell, so maybe it will work. If it does, let me know. You people have no souls at all, what a disappointment to humanity and our natural world.
This page should be taken down. I agree with Trudy, they are relentless. We have blocked them over and over, we are in the process of removing our front steps and landing to get rid of the burrowing under it and are sick to death of them. Shooting is not an option but we have set traps only to get skunks great. I want to move. I chased off a groundhog today, that has been vacationing under my deck. I started to notice my cherry tomatoes were ripped off the vines, and half eaten. I used straight ammonia, 3 bottles, up between where the decking meets the house.
Time will tell, and I will keep using straight ammonia until that stops working, then call a Pest Control. A grounghog began digging next to my foundation. I startd peeing into his barrow.
It worked and he moved up the hill behind my home. I don't mind him there. Once they dig a big burrow some body is going to come live in it a well place bullet just behind the ear is an amazingly quick death but you still have that hole in the ground we used to pour a sand cement water mixture called flowable fill dyed red over buried electrical lines to warn future excavators it is very fluid I always that would help fill up the tunnels but I have never tried it.
I've tried ammonia and epsom salt neither worked for me. My groundhogs were living in a crawlspace under an out building. I placed a radio under there which is out of the weather of course and have left it on at a pretty good noise level have'nt seen them since.
Fencing does not work, they dig under. I live in the city of Pittsburgh. Have a back yard. I have a groundhog that come to visit every day. Don't know where it is coming from. Don't have any holes in the yard. Here's my problem. It eats the shell peanuts I put out for my squirrels and birds.
They are put in a bird house, high up a pole. It climbs up. Read about the mothballs and ammonia spray. Will the mothballs or ammonia make my other "pets" sick?
Haven't called pest control because it comes at different times during the day. They wouldn't be here on time. Don't have money for a trap. Will the methods I mentioned hurt my squirrels and birds if they eat it? I found the best way to rid yourself of these pesky tards is lead poisoning! I really encourage you to try every method first before killing them. I have been killing these rodents for the last several years. I get calls all the time to get rid of these critters. So i I snair or shoot them with a cross bow.
Here is what I did to get rid of a groundhog under my shed. First I got some 4 foot fencing and put it around my shed. I nailed it to the shed using U shaped nails you can get in the electric department of Home Depot. I went down 6 inches deep underground and then out 3.
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