Woodchuck in chicken coop

[41ford]

Last night around 10.00 pm I went out to check on the chickens .Most nights one of the Geese goes up the ramp and goes in the coop.There is a automatic chicken door .The geese where some where else .I walked into the coop and I see something has been chewing to get out.Which made me mad because it is a new coop.I turn around and there is a good size woodchuck .Out of the coop Fast .very fast .Next the woodchuck started chewing other parts of the coop.
Next I put my live trap up then opened the chicken door then reached in to shot him with the 22. he went running to the door and into the trap .I have been trying to trap that bugger for two weeks .

 

[Jeeper1540]

How much Chicken Coop could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck Chicken Coops?

lol sorry. that must be weird, finding that in your coop. id be really mad if he was eating my coop too. heres hoping you can catch him!

 

[41ford]

It was Shot .

 

[rungirl]

I hate those stinking woodchucks! They can really tear up your property. I bet we kill 20-30 per summer and they show no sign of thinning out. The foundation around my house has had tunnels dug under it by them. I fill them in and they dig them out again!

 

[Baymule]

No woodchucks in east Texas MUHAHAHA!!!!!!

 

[WoodlandWoman]

Just this afternoon I heard scratching at the patio door. It sounded like the cat. I looked over and it was a big woodchuck trying to get in!

This one lives up in the woods and only comes down to a sunny spot in the backyard to graze during the day. I've let it be, because it hasn't dug around any of the buildings and minds it's own business. It ran back up to the woods after I yelled, "Hey! We live in here!" I guess it's looking for better digs for the winter, but it can't move in here.

 

[rungirl]

Yeah, it may not be a problem now, but they breed like crazy!

 

[woodmort]

They won't bother you chickens but they sure can devastate a garden. I finally shot all of them off my land and filled in all the holes but have to be vigilant lest they come back.

 

[denim deb]

I never see the ones I have in my yard. Believe me, I'd love to be able to get rid of them all. And, while I'll slow down for most animals, I had one run out in front of me the other day. I didn't slow down. (I will admit to feeling guilty when I hit it.) This area is getting overrun w/them.

 

[theFox]

I had one bouncing off the girls run this past August while trying to get away from me. The girls didn't like that one bit.

I declared war on them last year (we didn't have any trouble prior to then), if I see one and it makes the mistake of sticking around long enough it is history.

This year they were sampling cucs, squash, parsnips, carrots, swiss chard, pole beans, and several of my wifes flowers.

Why we started having trouble with them was that the neighbor we had before last year had a couple of dogs that took great pride in keeping a woodchuck free zone. New neighbor also has a dog (decent dog in fact) but he is a play fetch type dog and doesn't hunt. This results in no more woodchuck free zone.

That's fine as there is no closed season on them here and they are no match for even short brass bird shot shells that I seem to have have a surplus of.

If I didn't have the gardens I wouldn't bother with them.