groundhogs

[okdfarms]

thanks all. but cat doo, dog doo, chicken doo. even spearmint chewing gum don't work. and as far as setting traps, well, i am in farm country and lord knows my neighbors would shoot me should i drop one off. hubby likes using 1 qt gaoline, 1 gal water. poor in hole. throw match in, caboom. but this won't do near the coop. has anyone used rags soaked in amonia? or are we just wasting out time here as well. thanks again.

 

[mjuenem]

Is the hole anywhere near a downspout? Flood them - it works. A 100' roll of corrugated black pipe is pretty cheap at HD.

 

[CupOJoe42]

Would mothballs work???

 

[JoePa]

I wish I had a nickel for each groundhop I've killed - usually around 20 a year - man they can really dig up the place - when I try to level the ground around a hole after killing the occupant I have a half of a pickup truck full of rocks and dirt - but what I do is use a conibear trap - I just set in front of the hole - for those that don't know what kind of trap this is - it's a trap which consists of two heavy wires formed into a square - these are hinged in the middle with a light wire trigger that releases a spring on both sides - when the animal passes the trip wire the heavy wire clamps around the body of the animal - the spring pressure is so great that the animal dies in no time - the only problem with this traps they are not easy to open because of the heavy springs - they also sell bombs that you light and shove into the hole - when the bomb burns it poisons the groundhog - you put a sand bag or something similar over the hole and any other holes around - these are great because you don't have to worry about getting rid of the body - just fill in the hole -

 

[woodmort]

Like JoePa I've shot more woodchucks over the years than I care to count--shot them off my place years ago and, thus far, they haven't returned. It does take patience to wait until you see them to get a shot and they can learn that you represent danger and avoid you. Also using bombs or exhaust to kill them in their lairs works IF you can cover all the holes. Sometimes another entry can be a long ways away. Good luck--not only does their digging cause a problem but they can do a job on gardens.

 

[eggspresso]

Other than the damage from digging their burrows, do they harm chickens?