Woodchuck

[coolcanoechic]

This is sort of off topic, but can anyone tell me what would be good bait for a live trap? I have lost all of my cucumber plants to this critter and it has been wiping out my green beans too. I set up a cam and was finally able to identify the offender. I have two traps set up with cantelope and it appears that the critter is not interested. Any suggestions? I work and cannot hang out in the garden all day waiting to shoot it.

 

[Mattemma]

Canteloupe worked good for me.I got a few with apples and carrots too.

Also put in what the GH has been eating.He will clean you out that is for sure.I had better luck when I covered the trap a bit .Right now I have black tarps over it,but placing long grass/weeds over/around helped too.

My mom has caught hers by putting the trap at the den entrance(under shed),and she also covers the trap so it creates a tunnel-like effect.She puts fruits and veggies in it.The canteloupe has a strong smell.Unfortuantely the ants get to all the sweet stuff too.

I would move the traps and cover them.Have you been able to locate the den or trails used? I caught all mine by placing it at a trail.

I have even chased down GH's during the afternoon.Was able to block the escape holes under the fence,and then they were all mine.

 

[coolcanoechic]

Yesterday, I covered both traps with straw and threw a few more things in there. Some carrots, zucchini and broccoli and some fresh corn.
Last night the camera caught this. It also appears there is something else the camera did not catch. Notice the plants in the bed on the right hand side of the picture? They are gone in the second picture. I think I also have a deer to contend with. I thought it was the woodchuck doing that. Most of the swiss chard is gone now.
I wish the motion detector beam were a little wider. It might have caught the culprit in action eating that chard.
My cam caught a few shots of the woodchuck today farther back in the yard, but the bugger didn't even look at the traps.
Now what? I have a woodchuck, coon, and a deer!

 

[ladyrsanti]

Fence. That's all that's every saved my gardens.

 

[coolcanoechic]

It's funny, I have lived here for 20 years and have never seen a woodchuck. I knew there were racoons, but didn't think there would be an issue with that, but I have recently seen their droppings right next to the coop. All it would take is for me to forget to lock the door one night and it would be over. My coop is bombproof, but my memory is not.

I'll bait the trap tonight with raw meat and some corn. Will hamburger work? I don't have any chicken in the fridge. I will also set up my motion detector sprinkler again for the deer. They will not like getting squirt with water every time they move. Hopefully I will get rid of the coon quickly and move on to concentrating on the woodchuck. If I could shoot it, I would, but it comes when I'm at work.

I walked the woods and my yard looking for a hole and signs of digging, but came up empty handed.

So I guess my plan for now is to bait for coons at night and then switch over to woodchuck bait for the daylight hours. Wish me luck. I want to get these guys ASAP!

 

[Adenium]

We have a woodchuck family that's moved in under our front steps each year for the past few years...and had a feast of our perennials. Finally trapped it this spring with celery and carrots after several other attempts with no bait/different bait. We also covered the trap with an old shower curtain - my husband thought this would disguise it though I said he was crazy. Anyway....worked like a charm in one night. However, we ended up letting it go just a little ways away because of course it was the exact time when she might have babies and I didn't want them dying a slow death from dehydration/starving. Now she's probably too smart to retrap.....we should have tried that bait in the fall and moved her further away.