Gettin' Rid of a Groundhog

[7of911]

Has anyone had any experience getting rid of groundhogs? Besides hitting 'em with Ruf bumpers? The little b@sturd has ripped up half the backyard.

I'd like to be as humane as possible. Don't have access to a gun or dog. Any other ideas?

I've read about gassing them out - sounds kinda complicated - but at least painless for the little guy. Plug all the access holes, and attach a pipe from a lawn mower and insert into one hole. Run it for 20 mins. Maybe back up the 76S to the hill and smoke the crap outta him.


Ian

[cegerer]

[RickM]

I've heard of smoke bombs and flooding with water for this but never exhaust from an engine...lol

Unfortunately the network of tunnels is typically VERY extensive so success may be ineffective or temporary at best. I read somewhere that groundhogs inhabit the same area for many generations and it's not unusual for a family to be there for 100+ years. That's alot of tunnel.

The best humane tactic is to use a Haveahart or similar box trap. The most effective, permanent method is a properly sized Conibear type spring trap.....quick and deadly. http://www.nwtrappers.com/catalog/traps/vt/vtc.asp

I also think that these animals are of varying sizes. Here in the Northeast adults are typically the size of a small to medium sized dog...with short legs

[Rando]

Had the exact same problem. Had a backyard that was golf course green shape. I have a dog but all he did was dig holes to china trying to lick the damn thing to death. I tried the smoke but they returned after a day or so. I went to Ace Hardware and bought an electronic device that you stick in the ground and it emits ultrasonic waves that drive those rodents crazy so they won't come with in 50 feet of it. I don't remember the name of it and I'm at work right now. I put it in the ground 4 months ago and haven't seen a peep from him(or her) since! runs on 4 "D" size batteries. Pretty slick.

No blood, guts to deal with... pretty nice. It did however drive the little bastard into my neighbors yard LOL.. his turn to deal with the little sucker.

[B D]

I've read about gassing them out - sounds kinda complicated - but at least painless for the little guy. Plug all the access holes, and attach a pipe from a lawn mower and insert into one hole. Run it for 20 mins. Maybe back up the 76S to the hill and smoke the crap outta him.

Becareful I once heard a story of a guy doing the same thing. After 20 minutes he heard a fire engine comming up the street and figured this would not impress the local authorities and stopped the car and removed the tube. He then walked up the street to see what all the comotion was about. He quietly stood there as he heard people say they called 911 since there was smoke and exhaust smells in there house and backyard.

[vash]

those, battery powered repellant things suck, dont waste your money. i watched a mole eat up a yard peppered with those sticks. i think a exterminator can handle the things, but you dont want to watch, i think they gas them. not pretty. personally, i would love them. i would get one of those match grade pellet rifles and hone my skills. if you live on a ranch, forget the pellet gun. one of the new shortmagnums in .22 caliber would be better.

[Icemaster]

...Too many jokes....

[Icemaster]

Got a friend who owns a Dachsund? Borrow it for a few days, stick in a room and starve it for a while then turn the sucker loose. They were bred to root out and fight badgers.

Unless you plan on moving it 50 miles or morea away, it'll come back. Ask me how I know....

Most exterminators will remove them with traps, but (in some places) are legally required to destroy them once trapped.

[dhoward]

.222

[fintstone]

People shot them and baked them when I was a kid. Tasty!

[HarryD]

I have been having good sucess sprinkling cayenne pepper (not the car) in his active burrows. Pisses him off enough to move next door.

[vash]

Originally posted by HarryD
I have been having good sucess sprinkling cayenne pepper (not the car) in his active burrows. Pisses him off enough to move next door.

i bet sprinkling the car on his burrow would work too.

[B D]

Forgot the trick here it is: Beech gum not sure if that is name but it's close, old guys help me out it's before my time. The licorice flavored variety is what they like, they eat it and it gets stuck in there system and eventually you know what happens. Farmers used to do this and you would see fields full of the gum wrappers, so I was told.

Maybe it was spearamint?

[Drago]

Spring loading scissor style trap from your local nursey. Sold hundreds of them in my younger years. They can be a bit tricky to setup and the tension on the trip lever needs to be perfect.

Also, it might take you awhile to figure out how to best set the trap up. Trial and error, repeat.

Practice makes perfect. Just watch those fingers.

[7of911]

Thanks for the replies.

I plugged his hole with some rocks - didn't hear from him for a few days but noticed today that he'd dug around it. Too easy.

BD - yeah, I'd thought about this cuz in our neck of the woods, you need a permit to burn. If the fire dept (volunteer) come and you don't have it, it's $50 per fire man and $500 per truck that responds!

A trap is starting to make sense! But I live near a large lake in cottage country. I figure I'd have to drive a hell of a long way to relocate him so he doesn't come back. *argh*

[WOODPIE]

Another option would be to build him a little house, buy a top hat, wait 'til February 2 and have a HUGE PARTY!

Ed

[campbellcj]

I am at the same frustrating level with the effin' RABBITS in our yard. They are everywhere, as is their crap, their holes and the dying spots on the lawn.

I have heard the Cayenne pepper thing but don't really see spreading it over 8 or 10 thousand sq ft.

The pellet gun or .22 does not seem like it would fly in this neighborhood... plus there are kids everywhere (including my own) so visible dead bunny carnage may not be a bright idea.

I don't honestly relish the concept of offing cute little baby bunnies and would rather repel them "elsewhere" if possible. (Now the big ones somehow seem more...killable.)

Thus far our dogs have only caught one...which was pretty gross. It was a fairly large one. All we found in the yard was a furry legbone....

[dhoward]

[RickM]

I saw a jet black groundhog (gopher, woodchuck, whatever...) the other day. I have never seen this color as it looked like a fat mink.

Think there's a market?

[john70t]

Saw a pretty cool invention on t.v., though it's made for smaller critters like moles and gophers. The cattle industry supposedly looses quite a bit of stock due to broken ankle from their holes.
It's basically a long rod with a big metal shield on the end with a spark plug and a propane injector. You can fill in your groundhog visuals.