groundhogs

Well this isnt specifically about hops but there isnt a general gardening section so this was the best match.
Anyway it seems I have a groundhog or maybe its a woodchuck (not sure of the difference) eating all sorts of stuff in my garden it started by eating every single leaf on the broccoli then moved on to the beans I have growing.
I dont want to hurt them since I like having all sorts of wildlife living in my yard but im interested in ideas for discouraging them from eating the good stuff, however if they damage my hops they're history!
I already have fencing around the garden but apparently they can climb. from everything ive read the normal repellents dont work, chilli peppers, garlic, predator urine...
Any ideas?

Yep, they can climb and they can (obviously) dig. I tried one of those Hav-A-Hart live traps once, didn't have any luck. Maybe you could have better luck with one. Keep in mind groundhogs treat vacant groundhog dens like a vacant apartment. Once you get rid of one, it won't be too long after the next one moves in and notices the buffet next door (your garden).

Groundhogs are pretty skittish for the most part though. Moving scarecrow or something like that? They see me at 100 yards and they high-tail it for the bushes. Probably has something to do with me looking at them through a scope though.

Good luck. They're a pain in the ass and unfortunately non-lethal ways with groundhogs are problematic and rather difficult.

k1v1116 said:

Any ideas?

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I had a few until I read this...

k1v1116 said:

I dont want to hurt them

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I'm all for animal preservation, but spending summers as a kid on my grandfather's farm has taught me that when groundhogs are eating crops (or in my grandfather's case, digging holes in an airstrip/field, which could cause a crash landing), they've got to go. As my grandfather used to say... "give 'em lead poisoning." They're just big rats.

I think I should be able to do something to keep them out, I dont have any air fields on my property so im not worried about that, and my property in built on a rock so all my garden is terraced and the groundhogs can dig under it. im pretty sure they're climbing the fence or maybe the fence isnt fine enough and they're slipping through. the fence has openings about 1.5" x 2" that might be to big at least for a small ground hog.

Use a havahart, then




dunk the trap in a rainbarrel....

I say let an animal live....that was until I turned an ankle in a burrowed tunel while mowing. Then I said " *@@#$^%$# mother *&$#@%^*&@## your dead" now they are gone.

Unless you're on a farm or the woods where you can safely discharge a firearm, the best way to deal with them is the small mammal traps. This is the one I have, got it at Dick's Sporting Goods. A couple years ago, we had a family living under our shed. I wanted to just shoot 'em with my .35 Remington, but we live in the city...so I bought a high-powered pellet gun. Didn't faze them. Bastards. So I took the pellet gun back and got the trap.

In the span of a couple months, we caught 2 possum, 1 raccoon and 9 groundhogs. Yes, 9...and we live in the city. I just trap them and take them across the river and out into the country. I was even nice enough to drop them off at the same place so maybe they could reunite. This was after I poked them with a stick for awhile as revenge for eating my beet greens.

That was a couple years ago. We've been free of them ever since...until this weekend. My dog's had is head buried under the shed all weekend long. HA! I gotta get my trap back from a friend who's borrowing it, then I'm gonna catch him and let my dog f*ck with him for awhile. woooot!

Evan! said:

so I bought a high-powered pellet gun. Didn't faze them.

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Tough little suckers, ain't they?! I tried the same thing at one point. When I moved to my current house I bought a .17 Savage, have a lot more room for it than I did at my old house (1/4 acre and 20 feet from my neighbors, I'm sure they wouldn't have appreciated my Mossberg 835 going off). Currently groundhog free and the farmer next door loves me.

Evan! said:

In the span of a couple months, we caught 2 possum, 1 raccoon and 9 groundhogs. Yes, 9...and we live in the city. I just trap them and take them across the river and out into the country. I was even nice enough to drop them off at the same place so maybe they could reunite. This was after I poked them with a stick for awhile as revenge for eating my beet greens.

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Great inflict those nasty varmints on other people you don't know.

Groundhogs are plentiful around here and can cause plenty of damage to crops and earth works. Trapping them is tricky as they are very wary. You need to make sure the trap is very stable and nothing will move or flutter until they are caught.

I've heard they don't like noise so somekind of noise making device like one of those windmills may be a way to drive them off. A good dog in the yard is even better. Growing up we had a dog that made it a mission to kill every ground hog she encountered. She would spend all day digging at a hole if it required it. The 55acre farm was cleared of ground hogs soon after we moved to the farm and stayed clear until several years after that dog passed on.

Craig

k1v1116 said:

Well this isnt specifically about hops but there isnt a general gardening section so this was the best match.
Anyway it seems I have a groundhog or maybe its a woodchuck (not sure of the difference) eating all sorts of stuff in my garden it started by eating every single leaf on the broccoli then moved on to the beans I have growing.
I dont want to hurt them since I like having all sorts of wildlife living in my yard but im interested in ideas for discouraging them from eating the good stuff, however if they damage my hops they're history!
I already have fencing around the garden but apparently they can climb. from everything ive read the normal repellents dont work, chilli peppers, garlic, predator urine...
Any ideas?

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A lead injection is the best way to take care of the hogs eating your graden up!

Warrior said:

A lead injection is the best way to take care of the hogs eating your graden up!

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And also a quick way to get arrested if, like me, you live in a city...where discharging a firearm, outside of self defense, is illegal.

just dont go all bill murray with dynamite on them.+1 on what Evan! said, Traps work well .

This will help get rid of them. A shot placed correctly and guaranteed they aren't walking away. Not considered a firearm in many municipalities either. :rockin:

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/crosman-tac-1-extreme-air-rifle.shtml

RICLARK said:

just dont go all bill murray with dynamite on them.

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"In the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gophér'"

well I put out a trap in the garden and ill post a pic of whatever I catch. Its a humane trap Ive used in the past for catching raccoons, and squirrels in the attics.

k1v1116 said:

well I put out a trap in the garden and ill post a pic of whatever I catch. Its a humane trap Ive used in the past for catching raccoons, and squirrels in the attics.

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Good luck
It took my dad all summer to catch the under his front steps with one of those traps. He ended up getting a bunch of young groundhogs before getting the mother in the fall.

Craig

cwhill said:

This will help get rid of them. A shot placed correctly and guaranteed they aren't walking away. Not considered a firearm in many municipalities either. :rockin:

http://www.pyramydair.com/p/crosman-tac-1-extreme-air-rifle.shtml

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Ah, yes, and $255 later, we got that groundhog.

CBBaron said:

Good luck
It took my dad all summer to catch the under his front steps with one of those traps. He ended up getting a bunch of young groundhogs before getting the mother in the fall.

Craig

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That mama must have been pretty damned smart, then. I was catching those things every few days for awhile. Just put half an apple and some lettuce in there, and put it near where you see them the most...they can't resist. The best part is when you actually get to watch them waltz into the trap. I saw it a couple times...pure entertainment.

worst case scenario I know exactly where they live and I can always deal with them there.

Here's another option.

We have yet another visitor...and he's keeping Xander busy...

They are REALLY hard to deal with. I know you don't want to kill them, but I never found an effective alternative. I used to use a 12 ga with heavy loads of #4s.

Yuri_Rage said:

They are REALLY hard to deal with. I know you don't want to kill them, but I never found an effective alternative. I used to use a 12 ga with heavy loads of #4s.

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before I joined the AF ....haha

k1v1116 said:

worst case scenario I know exactly where they live and I can always deal with them there.

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I wouldn't be so sure. They usually have quite a network a tunnels with multiple entrances and often multiple independent tunnels.

If you don't have a good dog and firearms are not allowed then trapping is your best option. Apples seem to be good bait as that is also what was successful for my parents problem.

Craig

Craig

Pirate Ale said:

before I joined the AF ....haha

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So now you call in an airstrike?

I have a family of these f***ers out by me 1 acre+ lot. I have the Remington 22lr ready to go but like others have said they are very skittish..any noise or movement and they're gone...

So what to do...grab some liquid fence at Menards and spray a perimeter around your garden...even spray portion of the lower plants and leaves near ground....

Next works good and is cheap used w/ above...cayenne pepper and Gallic powder on the ground next to any area of soil penetration...they won't touch that area for a quite while...And after a week or to or heavy rain re-apply...hehe...this even works for birds pecking at your ryzhomes looking for insects.

Bighops

well the trap hasn't caught anything yet but im not giving up, ill try apples as bait. and yes firearms are out of the question I live in a large suburb about 30minutes out from NYC. Ive seen them use the tunnel network I know about so maybe they have a few extra exits or a extra tunnel somewhere else but I think I know about their main home.

maybe usmcruz can hook you up with a silencer...

Yuri_Rage said:

They are REALLY hard to deal with. I know you don't want to kill them, but I never found an effective alternative. I used to use a 12 ga with heavy loads of #4s.

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The pellet gun is always a good option if you live in a city. I'm sure you could get a decent one for under $100. I've always found that when you scare them into their hole, find a spot to hide and wait about 5 mins, they'll come out.

Warrior said:

I've always found that when you scare them into their hole, find a spot to hide and wait about 5 mins, they'll come out.

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+1

My friend got one with his .223 like that.

short of buying a pellet gun and assuming the trapping doesnt work, do you think a paintball gun with nylon slugs would work? about an ounce of hard plastic at 300ft/sec?

k1v1116 said:

short of buying a pellet gun and assuming the trapping doesnt work, do you think a paintball gun with nylon slugs would work? about an ounce of hard plastic at 300ft/sec?

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The standard furbearers leg-hold traps will definitely work. I've trapped many ground hogs this way in my teen years. I would only do this as a last resort, because unless you've trapped before, it's not very pleasant. Just place the trap right at the edge of the hole where it looks like their exit path is and chain the trap to a nearby tree or stake. No bate is necessary. The only drawback is, when you find him, his leg will be broken and he'll be awfully mad... then you have to do the deed upclose and personal, which isn't fun unless you're Hannibal Lector.

well the trap I put out still hasn't caught anything but with the aid of an old video camera I figured out that it was a mouse that has been eating the bait without triggering the trap. so my question is could a mouse or mice be the culprit thats eating my vegetables, the stuff being eaten is high off the ground so it would have to climb the stalk to get at it. can mice do that?

k1v1116 said:

well the trap I put out still hasn't caught anything but with the aid of an old video camera I figured out that it was a mouse that has been eating the bait without triggering the trap. so my question is could a mouse or mice be the culprit thats eating my vegetables, the stuff being eaten is high off the ground so it would have to climb the stalk to get at it. can mice do that?

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Mice can climb easily. What kind of things are being eaten? If it is seeds and fruits then mice or chipmunks are a likely culprit. However if it vegetative matter then groundhogs are more likely. Groundhogs primary eat grass and other green plant matter with some sweeter supplements like apples.

Use a half apple for bait, set the trap near the hole and make sure it will not move when the GH enters. They are wary creatures as any slow ground dwelling creature should be.

My Father-in-law got his last week in a live trap using a half apple as bait. You might have a more cautious animal.

Craig

I just saw this thread not 10 minutes after seeing a groundhog in the hops garden. I went out with the 12g but he saw me coming. Now I have something to do this summer.

Evets said:

I just saw this thread not 10 minutes after seeing a groundhog in the hops garden. I went out with the 12g but he saw me coming. Now I have something to do this summer.

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Aww... sometimes I miss PA. I grew up there. Got all my ground-hog hunting experience in PA!

Evets said:

I just saw this thread not 10 minutes after seeing a groundhog in the hops garden. I went out with the 12g but he saw me coming. Now I have something to do this summer.

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Almost got one with my 12ga the other day but when I peeped around the garage door he was standing next to my well cap, right in line with the windshield on my wife's car. Got him later with my .17 at 75 yards.

Tricky little suckers.