A different 3 year plan...battling woodchucks/groundhogs

[pma1123]

Figured I'd bring this topic up, as I'm probably not the only one who has run around like Bill Murray in caddyshack battling these things. Looking to see if anyone has any tips on how they fought the same issue.

I live in an old farmhouse which used to be on the ragged edge of city limits, but now I have about 300' of open field/tall grass field between me and the encroaching developments. Since these developments were previously critter habitat, having this open field surrounding me becomes a blessing and a curse.

Last year I began my battle using live traps, but had limited success actually baiting them in, and instead wound up with everything else; including a skunk

At that point, I moved to conibear (neck) traps directly over the den exits, and had good success. From July-Nov I rounded out the season with a total of 13 chucks, 4 of which were females. I also learned that possum share the same den with woodchucks, as I caught a couple of those exiting the same holes. As I would catch one, I would fill in the hole with dirt and monitor over the following days, and move the trap to another exit point. It seemed they would retreat after seeing their buddies get trapped, and I would get no activity for a week or so.

This morning I noticed 3 new holes, which officially makes this day #1 of setting traps for this year. I'm hoping that I'm early enough where they are hungry and lacking wisdom. I do realize that trapping involves consistency and time, but has been the most effective means for de-populating in my situation. As I'm in city limits, I cannot just open fire with a .22 without having problems with the law.

Also, for anyone who hasn't battled them but noticed the holes around their house or garden shed...if you think you have one or two, you probably have 30. They're cute, and destructive...they don't go away with just a single incidence of trapping.

Discuss...

 

[1kzwoman]

How much water do you have available? Flooding holes completely, until all tunnels run water will work. May have to repeat it a few times.
Grain baits dropped in holes also work.
Your looking at eliminating basics, food, shelter,safety.

 

[pma1123]

Thumbs up! I probably need more GPM than the garden hoses would provide, but maybe 55 gallon drums would work?

Can I get grain baits at TSC or a local supplier?

I've also tried the rodent smoke bombs from TSC, but it only toys with their emotions. I do believe their dens can be up to 30' deep so smoke has to drop a long ways to get into the den area.

For food sources, I have grass with clover growing in it, and an old apple tree in the front yard that I'm strongly considering either cutting it down, or doing an extreme pruning job to limit the area where apples drop. Currently I don't have apples, but by July they will be a reality. Can anybody suggest a way to get rid of the clover?

 

[Jags]

24D will take out clover if mixed heavy enough.

There may be a tip or two to help in your quest here:
http://www.veggiegardeningtips.com/how-to-quickly-easily-trap-nuisance-groundhogs/

 

[1kzwoman]

Just mowing may discouraged both guests and clover

 

[Adios Pantalones]

What specifically are you trying to keep them out of?

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I wish I could just take the clover- it only became a weed when weed killer manufacturers found out their products killed it. I plant a little every year

 

[BrotherBart]

There was a time when clover was what is called a lawn.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

There was a time when clover was what is called a lawn.

It was a seed normally added to grass mix before it came on the wrong side of marketing.

 

[BrotherBart]

"Roll me over in the Fescue and do it again." just has never had that same je ne sais quoi.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

"Roll me over in the Fescue and do it again." just has never had that same je ne sais quoi.

When the long day was over, we'd flattened the clover- she was drunker than I was (Big Bad Bollocks)

 

[BrotherBart]

I used to have problems with them under the slab front porch. Since Michelle the Woodpile Panther cat has come on the scene they are history along with mice. She is thrilled to find something smaller than her. When I let her out in the morning she makes a complete round around the house on the hunt and then comes in for breakfast if she doesn't score.

 

[firefighterjake]

There was a time when clover was what is called a lawn.

For me . . . clover is still a large part of my lawn. I'm too cheap and lazy to actually plant grass or lay down grass sod.

 

[BrotherBart]

For me . . . clover is still a large part of my lawn. I'm too cheap and lazy to actually plant grass or lay down grass sod.

Kinda like when we all moved in around here 30 years ago. Every weekend with tons of seed, fertilizer and lime. Now we all figure weeds are just as green and just mow'em.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Kinda like when we all moved in around here 30 years ago. Every weekend with tons of seed, fertilizer and lime. Now we all figure weeds are just as green and just mow'em.

I refer to it as my "New Hampshire lawn". When I had the house rabbits, I would just go pick them a salad from the lawn many nights

 

[JustWood]

I've had luck dumping cat litter down there holes and its a good way to make that shat disappear and fill in a hole at the same time. That stuff just doesn't dissolve fast even when spread in the woods/field.
Doesn't eliminate the problem but keeps them from denning there.

 

[AK13]

I have the groundhogs come back every year and reopen dens under the slab in my barn. I've mostly done live traps, but it is a pain and then I have to release them. I caught a possum last year too. They are ugly but they are sweet docile animals unlike those nasty chucks. For live trapping you can't beat cantaloupe. They love it.

What I want to do this year is try gassing them out with vehicle exhaust. Clamp a hose around my lawnmower, truck or other small engine and run the hose down to the hole. The problem is that i can't figure out what to use to connect to the exhaust that is close enough to the right size and won't melt to the tailpipe.

I don't want to use the smoke bombs because they are a fire hazard and this is in a dry barn with too many woodchips around. Its actually my woodshed/barn so plenty of combustibles

 

[pma1123]

Thanks for the feedback! Right now I'm specifically battling 3 holes that popped up in the mulch area near my front porch step. I'm sure they have a den under the slab, as I've filled holes here last year after removing several chucks with the traps mentioned above. After yesterday, I'm pleased to report I'm +1, woodchucks 0. But there are many, many more holes in the surrounding fields and getting the stuff close to the house/outbuildings is my focus.
As for the clover, my lawn is much like everyone else mentions...a mix of everything. Not sure its worth even trying to get rid of the clover; I don't care about having the greenest lawn in the neighborhood. I was just looking at ways to eliminate the basics....(food safety shelter).

 

[bassJAM]

Sounds like the traps are working for you. I have a den under my detached garage. I tried baiting a hav-a-hart trap with cantaloupe, but somehow they'd manage to eat the fruit and never got trapped. I grew up using that same trap catching coons, skunks, and possums out of my parents barn so I know I set it right. I watched one sit at the very edge of the trap, reach in and grab the fruit, and them just back out when the trap-door fell on his back. I would have never imagined a ground hog was smart enough to outsmart a trap like that! I ended up just taking 5 of them with a .22, and they are already back this year.

I know you said you can't use a .22, but what about a pellet gun? Some of those break action ones are about the same power of a .22.

 

[tigger]

A buddy of mine used a 55 gallon drum half filled with water. He had a ramp to the top and put some dog food up the ramp and floated some on the surface. They would walk up the ramp and jump in to get it and then drown. Its a little cruel, but it worked. He would go out each day and fish the dead one out and then set some more bait.

 

[AK13]

A buddy of mine used a 55 gallon drum half filled with water. He had a ramp to the top and put some dog food up the ramp and floated some on the surface. They would walk up the ramp and jump in to get it and then drown. Its a little cruel, but it worked. He would go out each day and fish the dead one out and then set some more bait.

I was advised by a friend that I should just drown them in the cage after trapping. But it seems to cruel to drown a caged animal. Then I'd have to fish the dead one out of the cage and bury it. Yuck.

That is why I like the idea of gassing them myself. Wait until they are in the den at dusk and just fill it up with carbon monoxide and then bury them in there. If the holes stay closed then you know you got them.

 

[Ashful]

Get a dog. The PO of this house had endless problems with all of the above. Once our dogs moved in, the critters found a quieter place to live (probably under our neighbors porches!).

 

[peakbagger]

We used to live in a city with our property next to a large wild parcel. Woodchucks were a major issue. We picked up a cheap 22 and some 22 rounds that disintegrate when they hit something so no issue with ricochets, I usually just opened a window and fired from a bedroom. In the spring we would usually have two adults and a bunch of smaller ones. We got a new neighbor next door that moved in with his elderly parents. The parents were concentration camp survivors from WW2. They apparently didn't like us shooting the woodchucks and their son asked us politely to stop so we did. Our garden was pretty well fenced in and I had knocked out the spring generation so we figured we would take a year off. The neighbors parents started a garden and very soon the woodchucks found it, a few weeks later the son dropped by and told us his parents decided we could shoot the woodchucks.

I seem to remember a gardening book that said if a woodchuck eats your dinner, have him for dinner. I haven't taken the advice.

 

[bassJAM]

I seem to remember a gardening book that said if a woodchuck eats your dinner, have him for dinner. I haven't taken the advice.

I actually dressed a young ground hog last summer, and brought him in and put him in some brine for a few hours with the intention of frying him up that evening. But somebody called me to go meet them for wings and beer that evening, and I ended up just throwing away the meat.

 

[pma1123]

Glad I inquired on this topic; several people have experience here!
The comments from BassJam about live traps had me laughing. Several times I came home to a 'trap malfunction', or perhaps a wise woodchuck got the bait without the trap successfully capturing.
With the conibear traps I'm currently using, it presents its own set of considerations. I don't use bait; I am counting on the animals choosing that hole to exit the den. Right now anything that decides to pass through that hole is dead in an instant. This could potentially include cats and dogs who decide to poke their face in the hole, which hasn't been a problem yet but would be a big one if it did happen. So even though the conibear traps always work, I'd like to stray away from the inherent dangers. Last year I resorted to building wooden boxes with mesh to house the trap but still provide outside view as the critters exit the den. I had OK results with this, but it was a bit of a deterrent in the areas I had been trapping.

On the bright side, I guess I'm not slinging a soaking wet/bloated dead critter. Bad enough dealing with the dry ones!!

I do have a weiner dog which by nature is a ground-animal hunter, but I doubt his ability to actually get my dirty work done
I need a lab or something with a strong prey drive that is willing to shake things up a bit.
That will be a reality for me, I just need to get through puppyhood on #1 before I jump into #2.

For shooting, I could get away with a pellet gun no problem. You must be referring to the break-action style with 1000fps?

I haven't had any woodchucks mess with my barn yet, but I did have one go into my garage which has a very cracked concrete floor, and proceed to remove concrete chunks from the floor and create tunnels under the garage slab. This also meant whatever gravel was displaced while making tunnels, was now in the garage. (100lbs+) This all happened within 24 hours, it was crazy to see how fast they can make a mess like this. Every time I set a tool on the floor or slam jackstands around, I am reminded that many areas below the floor are now hollow. I have since eliminated the offending chucks in the garage, with no signs of return. (yet)