I was recently asked what vegetables you could grow that aren't bothered by any pests. I couldn't come up with any. As long as there are groundhogs in the world, our vegetables won't be safe.
I've said before that I find groundhogs to be adorable looking creatures. But much like Bambi, when groundhogs are in your garden, they're going to need more than a cute face to escape a gardener's wrath. Unlike Bambi and her kin, it seems groundhogs have never met a plant they didn't find tasty. They can wipe out a garden overnight and bring a grown gardener to tears.
Many people will tell you there is no solution for groundhogs except trapping them. Even that is only a temporary cure, since new groundhogs will find the old burrows and tunnels and move right in. Of course, first you have to identify the perpetrator as a groundhog, since you won't often catch them in the act. David Beaulieu can help with that, as well as offering some other Options for Groundhog Control.
Photo: Tim Boyle / Getty Images News
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Did you know that groundhogs could climb? I say a groundhog climb up a four foot garden post and down to get into my garden. What do you think I should do about that?
Yes indeed, they can climb very well. Groundhogs are close cousins of squirrels.
The only success I’ve had with fencing to keep groundhogs out was when I let the fencing flop. If it’s rigid, they will climb it. I attached a 2′ wide piece of wire fencing all along the top of my vegetable garden fence and just let it flop over. The little guy didn’t like the swaying and lack of stability and jumped right off. It doesn’t look very pretty, but it worked.
Is there a good way to get rid of ground hogs without hurting them? I have a family under my shed and they ate most of my garden last year
Folks, groundhogs are extremely dangerous pests that will sample your garden to death; being nice and using box traps won’t work generally since most (except for the very young) are too big to fit; keep fences floppy to prevent climbing, plant a second fence down into the ground to prevent digging, and exterminate by whatever means necessary; otherwise, don’t bother planting a garden.
I’ve only known groundhogs to be dangerous if cornered and then, can you blame them. I had a ravenous little eater move in under my porch a couple of years ago. I called in a professional who reportedly has a licence to trap and relocate the critters to state land, where the population had dropped due to some kind of problem. Who knows for sure that he did relocate and it wasn’t just hype… But I would caution you against trying to relocate them yourself. Most states have laws about that.
He did tell me that most groundhogs are solitary. Once the babies have matured, they’re expected to move out and find homes of their own. Of course, by then they can do a whole lot of damage. Fencing is fine for the vegetable garden, but my little guy feasted on everything. He was especially fond of astilbes.
My porch cats take care of the moles so I just let nature take it’s course. My cats also bring me mice,squirrels and snakes;dead of course. I have Lots of bird feeders and hummingbird feeders, never see the cats interested in them. I used to trap and relocate squirrels but now let the cats just scare them away. The geese in the lake also have almost completely eliminated the water moccasins. I’ve seen geese chasing a snake all the way across the lake. Snakes rob their nests of eggs so the cycle of life is going on to my utter enjoyment. Cranes visit my beach and eat the baby turtles which if left on their own would overpopulate the lake.Stand back and let nature keep things in balance.
It sounds like you have a nice balance of nature where you are. I think my cats invite mice, moles and voles into the yard so they’ll always have something to play with.
I’m all for letting nature take its course, but I think the balance is unfortunately lost in most suburban neighborhoods. A groundhog in a neatly manicured neighborhood has no predator but oncoming traffic.
BROTHERS AND SISTER I LIVE ON A FARM AND BOY DO GOT GROUNDHOGS SO IF OUR GONA SPEND HUNREDS OF DOLLARS ON TRAPS JUST BUY RIFLE KILL THE CREATURES OR GET A BIG DOG FROM THE SHELERT THE SIZE OF A PODDLE AND UR DONE.
Did you know groundhogs are super cute.But they eat a lot.
What animal (S.E. pennsylvania) would eat a dead groundhog?
Spaghetti is the worlds 2nd most famous groundhog’s “Smith Lake Jake” favorite food. I read all about him in a groundhog magazine, and they said that he actually smiles when you tickle him, and he wears a hat. cool!
I have something burrowing holes under our apple tree. The holes are about 7 or 8 inches across. I was wondering if anyone has any idea as to what it might be? I live on a lake so not far from water. Could it be a groundhog and how do I find out for sure?
I don’t know how to tell for sure, without seeing him come out, but the size of the hole sounds right and they love apples. Do you see any plants being eaten? Groundhogs are usually most active early in the morning and in the evenings.
We have started discing around the property and have yet to have a gopher bother my goods! It’s been a couple of years now.
Rita, do you think it’s because their cover is gone or is it specific plants that have been pushed out?
does anyone know if groundhogs can play dead? My dogs got 2 of them but they did not appear to have drawn blood. They were there for acouple of hours but now they are gone.
Kathy, I’ve never seen it, but you intrigued me and I found this video on YouTube of a young groundhog playing possum.
I tried to let the groundhogs in my backyard go, but when they began digging near my house foundation in addition to eating my garden, I looked for options. In our state, it’s illegal to relocate groundhogs. We could trap them, but we’d have to kill them. Even calling the animal control and wildlife folks, we’d have to pay for the traps and for them to be killed. So, this spring, I just sat on the back porch with a rifle and picked them off one by one. It was not my desired solution, but it was effective. We’ve since gone through and filled in as many of the openings as we’ve found, and we’ll be bringing in a bulldozer this fall to level things out better and finish off any remaining holes. Hopefully that will help keep them away for good.
Quincy, I’m sorry things got so drastic, but I can appreciate the amount of damage they can do in a vegetable garden. Most of us don’t have the option of shooting animals in our yards.
You’ll need to get rid of their burrows and any overgrowth they might have used for cover. Groundhogs are infamous for moving into empty burrows and travleeng the neighborhood.
I’m a gardener.
And also have blog on gardening: http://allthingstomato.com/category/blog
Can anyone suggest me about growing tomatoes.
Thanks.
Ground hogs don’t have a chance – my cats keep them away..
I have been battling a pair of groundhogs. I have chicken wire two feet under ground attached to a 7″ plastic mesh deer fence. I didn’t realize they would simply claw through the plastic. I just added an extra 3′ tall chicken wire surround on top of the deer fence and a young one still managed to pull it over enough to get between and slide through its hole. In a bizarre twist I found the little guy dead behind a row of corn with no apparent reason. A couple days before I had sprayed everything with pepper spray to hopefully deter the things… could that kill a groundhog???
Cindy, that must be one big cat!
Warren, I don’t think the pepper spray did him in. He was either attacked or it was his time, poor thing. Seems a shame to die just as the food is becoming so plentiful.
I tried plastic netting once and the rabbits chewed their openings like a flap, so that I didn’t notice it for the longest time.
My neighbor has had 6-8 under his deck for the past 2 years. He has tried everything. Will last night was it. I had bought about 2 dozen M80’s about a month ago. We removed the decking above the few 4 holes we could see and began dropping them in. BOOM, BOOM, BOOM. They did not kill them however they crawled out like a bunch of drunks. Thats where the air rifle came in handy. He now has NINE groundhog scalps hanging up (kidding) but they are dead