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Here, active groundhogs have brought many artifacts to the surface thanks to their burrowing, including human bones and pottery. Groundhogs are most comfortable in tall vegetation, which can serve as a natural defense. Remove vegetation from around the entrance of a den to make groundhogs feel insecure. Time is of the essence when finding the right moment to evict groundhogs.
Don’t Waste Your Pets’ Waste
If you’re trying to get groundhogs to leave – or want to ensure they don’t chow down on your garden – a spicy spray can do the trick. One easy way to make a spray is to put two teaspoons of cayenne pepper into a spray bottle. Next, add a quart of water and a couple of drops of dish detergent, like Dawn. If you fumigate with a substance with a strong odor, you can use it to get groundhogs to leave an area.
How to Trap a Groundhog?
In order to lure a groundhog into a live trap, you will need to place food inside to entice them. Groundhogs love feeding on clover, broccoli, soybeans, and common garden vegetables. Groundhogs don’t like the smell of lavender or other strong smelling herbs such as mint, rosemary, or basil.
Put Up a Fence
How To Get Rid Of Groundhogs Without Harming Them – Forbes Home - Forbes
How To Get Rid Of Groundhogs Without Harming Them – Forbes Home.
Posted: Fri, 03 Feb 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
If the groundhog in your yard is feeding on your garden, you can also add these herbs there as they will avoid the area due to the smell the herbs give off. If groundhogs have built homes on your property, it’s best to understand their tendencies so your efforts to control them will be successful. Groundhogs will destroy pretty much any vegetation they find in your yard. You’re especially vulnerable if you happen to grow soybeans, alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, clover, lettuce or broccoli. These are groundhogs’ favorite foods, so much so that they’ve been known to devour their seedlings before the plants have a chance to grow. Groundhogs are ecologically important, even in urban ecosystems.
Are groundhogs dangerous to pets or humans?
The problem is that groundhogs—also known as woodchucks or whistle-pigs—are binge eaters who can wipe out your vegetable garden in a matter of minutes. They climb, they burrow, they swim, and they eat—an adult consumes about a pound to a pound-and-a-half of vegetation daily. Groundhogs can be pretty stubborn and difficult to get rid of once they find a nice shelter and area to live in. Live traps can be used to catch groundhogs so you can transport them to another location safely. Catching a groundhog with a trap may take some time as they may be cautious of the new object you have in your yard.
Similarly, you’d be hard-pressed to find a groundhog in the Rocky Mountains. They might eat your garden or damage driveways and lawns by digging. Also, like all mammals, they can carry rabies and host mites, ticks and fleas. Fences that extend at least a foot underground are the best option.
I sold my house for 80000$ less because of the woodchuck damage. Are you supposed to use some kind of spell with the epsom salts? I tried pouring them generously into the hole and around the entrance, and the groundhog just dug out some fresh dirt and ate my cilantro and knocked over my birdbath in retaliation. If a groundhog is trapped under your porch or base of the house, the best way to get rid of them is by catching them using a trap and then releasing them. When we are talking about cats and dogs, we aren’t necessarily talking about using them to catch the groundhogs. Besides, since the dogs and cats are comparatively a lot larger in size as compared to groundhogs, they have a predator-like approach.
How to Keep Groundhogs from Digging Under My House, Deck, or Shed?
Ripe fruits and vegetables are at the most risk of attracting rodents and being stolen. Groundhogs and other animals tend to get used to annoying noises and even what appears to be a threat like an owl or hawk decoy, for example. You may notice results initially but ultrasonic devices won’t keep groundhogs away for long without other methods. This is one of the worst places to have woodchuck activity as their burrowing can damage the structural integrity of your deck or foundation. The trick to kicking them out is first closing the hole then installing a barrier so they can’t get under the porch again. The first option is using chicken wire that’s 6′ high and installed with 5-foot posts.
The smell of the ammonia should drive the groundhogs away. Vinegar is pungent and offends a groundhog's sense of smell. Apple cider vinegar is an even stronger offensive odor than white vinegar. It also repels squirrels, deer, dogs, cats, rabbits, and raccoons and won't harm them—only get them running the other way. You must remove environments they like to reduce the chances of attracting groundhogs to your property. Get rid of tall grasses and weeds, overgrown shrubs, and brush piles.
I know it is a ‘cruel’ thing to “kill” animals, but if it is between my garden where I am growing food for the year, or an animal that I don’t want to feed, then…that animal will go. Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, “whistle pigs,” or marmots, are rodents that can do a lot of damage to your lawns and gardens. And since groundhogs are herbivores, they enjoy making a meal on the plants in your garden, so all that hard work you put into it can be decimated in a single afternoon. How often does it happen that you find your fruits half-eaten and lying on the ground? That said, groundhogs are one of the most common burrowing pests found across gardens and backyards.
Groundhogs can cause extensive damage thanks to their non-stop tunneling behavior. In addition to raiding your garden, their tunnels can collapse in your yard and they can even cause structural damage to your home, shed, walkways, and fencing. These large tunnels aren’t visible from the surface unless they collapse but they’re large enough to break a tractor axle and damage surrounding structures. If you can’t keep sprinklers on for an hour or more a day, the next-best solution is thoroughly soaking areas that might appeal to groundhogs. This includes areas with good cover like dense shrubs, near bushes and fences, and under sheds.
Place the one-way door or trap near the primary entrance. Ensure it is set up properly according to the manufacturer's instructions. Soon after they emerge from a winter’s hibernation, they mate, giving birth in mid-spring—at a time when the pickings are at their slimmest. Neat rows of seedlings must look like manna from heaven to hungry groundhogs, who sometimes perch on garden fence posts as if they are looking over the salad bar. Place these foods in the back of the trap so the groundhog can’t escape with the food before the door shuts. Once you’ve captured the groundhog, release it far enough away from human development so it will not return or wreak havoc in someone else’s yard.
It all comes down to the answer to one question, and that’s “What do groundhogs eat? Deep tunnels and nibbled crops are two telltale signs of a groundhog problem. But luckily, there are a few ways to combat this situation. This guide explains how to get rid of groundhogs and keep them away for good.
The most effective way to remove groundhogs from your property is by seeking assistance from an experienced pest control company. Professionals use a variety of tactics to remove groundhogs from a property, and these services typically cost between $150 and $300. Prices vary based on the location of the animal, removal methods, and the difficulty of removal. Taking a groundhog out of a tunnel in your yard will probably be cheaper than removing one from beneath your home’s foundation, for example.
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