the dreaded groundhog "AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN"!!!! update

[mikeyny]

Ok, this is a continuing saga from my other post "the dreaded ground hog" earlier this season. So far I have gotten 4 ground hogs ( definitely not the same one twice, much less 4 times. Bigger, smaller, taller, fatter etc.) I have used the road flare method suggested by someone here, it works great. ( I think). The problem is, I have traveled a bit this summer for up to 2 wks at a time for work. It seems like everytime I come back, another one moves in and does some more damage . There are 2 entrances near my garden, I have not found a 3rd yet. I am real sure the ones that went into the burrow and got "flared" are dead in the ground, However, these newer hogs all dig out the same old burrow, from the outside going in. ( where I am sure the dead ones are). Are they foolin me. Would a perfectly live groundhog dig into the same burrow and enter it while another dead one is in there. Today when I returned home I have found one of the entrances has been dug out, the other still has the 4 ft long stick that I duct taped the flare to with a ton of dirt on top of it. On the entrance he dug out are 3 spent flares strewn about . am I going nuts, like Bill Murry in Caddy Shack or what. Help me out here.
Mike

 

[mikeyny]

ok , a quick update. My daughter (15 yrs old) came home from the store while I was posting the first time, and saw the S O B. , threw a jar of peanut butter at it and chased it into the burrow. So I went down to retrieve the peanut butter, just outside the burrow ( she missed him), and notice lots of fly's buzzing around the opening. There has got to be dead things in there. I have a bucket of dirt and a flare ready so next time he comes out I can chase him in and send him off. I'm not sure how many bud lites it will take for him to come out though. This could take a while in the lawn chair. Maybee I better get a cooler full. @#$%^&* IT

 

[mikeyny]

Ok i'm almost ready to get out the back-hoe
ooh yess!!

 

[semipro]

I think you should set up a web cam so we can watch.

 

[JustWood]

Get a half gallon of ammonia.
6-10ft of old garden hose.
2-3 old socks.
Funnel.


1 shove 1-2 socks into other.
2 slide sock over end of garden hose and tape lightly to hose
3 shove hose sock combo down hole as far as it will go
4 put funnel on exposed end of hose
5 dump ammonia in funnel
6 shove the hose down hole and cover all holes.
7 come back in a week to retrieve equipment
8 if steps 1-7 doht wurk shoot the bastage

 

[billb3]

Car exhaust is supposed to work good, too.

They will most certainly find another den attractive.

The den closest to the food source would be primo real estate.

I had one in July two years ago (apparently mom kicks them out of her home in July) climb the fence and decide to call home in with my grape vines.
I stabbed the ground with a metal pole repeatedly.
All digging ceased. I saw him(her) once , he was rather small and very light coloured rather than the brown I expected.
Another one was starting to dig near a barn so I cleared all the land ( I was letting some places weeds grow instead of cutting every week) so they would be put off by the open area and not feel safe.
Also peed all around that area rather than use the toilet in the house.

Basically made the place as unattractive to them as possible.

They established themselves here about thirty years ago ( about 8 dens under buildings, anyplace and everyplace) had to do a lot of live trapping and shooting. Was kinda hard to do , but they are rodents, worse than squirrels and rats.
I was told to fill all the burrows I could find with sand and the dirt they removed back in the holes or wanderers ( apparently males have a harem spread over several miles) won't stick around to find out why another one dug a burrow there. (food source again)

Luckily, haven't seen any since.

Sometimes I wish the coyotes would come back , starting to have squirrel and rabbit troubles again.

 

[hossthehermit]

Since you ask;

Groundhog Connoisseur Draws National Attention
Written by Jacqueline Weaver
Monday, August 02, 2010 at 10:28 am
GOULDSBORO — Ground-hog eater extraordinaire Dave Seward has had more than his 15 minutes of fame the last few weeks.

Seward had mentioned to a few customers at his Route 1 hardware store, Anderson Marine & Hardware, that groundhogs had eaten a good part of his garden.

So, it seemed like a good idea for Seward to eat the groundhogs, which he did.

He shot three, ate two, and hung the third on a post to scare off any other groundhogs contemplating feasting in his 60-by-60-foot vegetable garden.

The American wrote a story about it, and, thanks to today’s social and other media, Seward was soon a star.

In addition to his culinary event being discussed on Facebook, Twitter and Google, a telephone interview Seward did with WRKO (Boston) talk show host Howie Carr made it onto YouTube (http://audio.wrko.com/m/audio/32835130/the-groundhog-war.htm)

“I have had three traveling salesmen stop by and say what fun it was,” Seward said of the interview.

Strangers and visitors passing through the area are stopping by to commiserate with him about the pesky critters or to just get a close look at him.

“They’re curious about the taste,” Seward said. “They wonder whether the pelts are any good. They ask for recipes and ideas for cooking them. They ask whether they bite.”

For more community news, pick up a copy of The Ellsworth American.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Groundhogs are considered game animals, but can be taken without license as a nuisance on a farm.

I had a farmer ask me to take a shot if I see one. Unfortunately the only time I saw one (while I was armed) recently my dog was out in front of me chasing it. *sigh* I would have loved to give it to the wife. :lol:

Matt

 

[JoeyD]

I have a dog that really isn't much of a dog per say. What I mean by that is if you toss her a treat it will hit her between the eyes land on the floor and then she will eat it. She has no clue what playing fetch is. You throw a toy or ball and she just looks at you as if to say why are you throwing that away? But one day I had a ground hog cornered under my shed and she got a wiff of it. Man, let me tell she became a real dog that day. She circled that shed for about 45 minutes while I flushed the thing out with a hose and within 3 feet of leaving the shed the thing was dead. It looked like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. One pounce, a shake and she sat over it like she won a prize. Since then when ever I get a ground hog I say "Meg get the ground hog" and she goes wild and I follow her to the shed. So far she has 4 under her belt. It is her only dog skill though :lol: .

 

[Shari]

I have a dog that really isn't much of a dog per say. What I mean by that is if you toss her a treat it will hit her between the eyes land on the floor and then she will eat it. She has no clue what playing fetch is. You throw a toy or ball and she just looks at you as if to say why are you throwing that away? But one day I had a ground hog cornered under my shed and she got a wiff of it. Man, let me tell she became a real dog that day. She circled that shed for about 45 minutes while I flushed the thing out with a hose and within 3 feet of leaving the shed the thing was dead. It looked like Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. One pounce, a shake and she sat over it like she won a prize. Since then when ever I get a ground hog I say "Meg get the ground hog" and she goes wild and I follow her to the shed. So far she has 4 under her belt. It is her only dog skill though :lol: .

Sounds like mikeyny should rent your dog for a day or two. What's a groundhog killing dog rent for nowadays?

Shari

 

[billb3]

My dog would run back into the house.

 

[Flatbedford]

I need that dog too. Maybe she could give mine lessons.

 

[Reggie Dunlap]

A 40 grain .22 bullet will keep them from coming back. Forever.

 

[wahoowad]

Pellet rifle

 

[zzr7ky]

Car exhaust is supposed to work good, too. : Any newer car exhaust is way to clean and has enough O2 left to support large mammals...

However an older car say 1970's, or any lawn tractor will get it done. You can drive a new car coast to coast and put less junk in the air than one lawn mower mowing one lawn : (



Mike P (Live from GM)

 

[Adios Pantalones]

I have a Havahart... but I don't have-a-heart- I have a .22

 

[mikeyny]

Finaly done with the hogs. 7 dead, for sure. I ended up borrowing a few leg traps from a friend. ( I new he was a serious hunter trapper when I interupted his supper to borrow a few traps and he reached over from his dinner chair to grab a chain full of leg traps that were hangin on the kit. wall. ) I got them in the leg traps and bashed em over the head. It's been almost 2 weeks since I have seen one. the carrot tops are growing again. I'm not sure whats worse, gettin rid of ground hogs or raising teenagers. HOLY CRAP!!
Mike

 

[EatenByLimestone]

How were they cooked? I hope you got your carrot tops back.

Matt

 

[semipro]

Finaly done with the hogs. 7 dead, for sure. I ended up borrowing a few leg traps from a friend. ( I new he was a serious hunter trapper when I interupted his supper to borrow a few traps and he reached over from his dinner chair to grab a chain full of leg traps that were hangin on the kit. wall. ) I got them in the leg traps and bashed em over the head. It's been almost 2 weeks since I have seen one. the carrot tops are growing again. I'm not sure whats worse, gettin rid of ground hogs or raising teenagers. HOLY CRAP!!
Mike

Right now I'd take groundhogs over teenagers for sure!

 

[btuser]

edit

 

[btuser]

We had a groundhog at my dad's house. It was the size of a small bear. It kept eating the garden, not one plant at a time, but one bite out of everything as if to say "this one is mine, and this one, and this one too". One time I got close enough to hit it with a shovel. I broke the shovel and it just kept going. It was huge, like a beaver.

 

[smokinj]

We had a groundhog at my dad's house. It was the size of a small bear. It kept eating the garden, not one plant at a time, but one bite out of everything as if to say "this one is mine, and this one, and this one too". One time I got close enough to hit it with a shovel. I broke the shovel and it just kept going. It was huge, like a beaver.

I shot one with a 30-06 blew him off the ground about 2 foot. Went to look at the dead ground hog and he was no where to be found. Had some blood but dont know how he could move after taking a shot like that.

 

[btuser]

That's him! Be afraid. Be very afraid.