Groundhogs

This is wildlife talk so here goes.

I was excited to see a groundhog one day while photographing birds around the feeder. Now its not so exciting knowing he has made a home under my building right next to the house foundation.

I can't even get to the entrance, there is a low lawnmower deck between the building and house and he is burrowing under that.

After throwing a bunch of mothballs under there and more research, I figure the mothballs are not going to work. I'll have to slide under there and rake them out with a stick.

Any other ideas? yes shooting him will work. relocating after trapping is risky business and I don't want to get caught doing that.

I don't want to shoot him but it is better than replacing wiring or having the house foundation or building foundation sink into the ground.

Anybody have other ideas?

You might want to mention where you are at, in case that might help someone out.

Also, I know this is probably the first thing you thought of, but, have you considered calling an animal professional, someone that is trained in this.
(Maybe Bill Murray? heheh)
Sometimes it pays to go to the guys that do it all of the time, it may save you a lot of headache, and be worth whatever they charge you.

I have never seen one, so I don't have a clue how you get rid of one.

Maybe this will help...?
Google Ground Hog Removal

Randy

I'm in SC upstate. Yes I will talk with our DNR. I don't care much for the county animal control.

Story time, a few years ago there was a cat with a broken back or leg or something. I can't remember, it could get away from you but was in a mess. I called animal control, in a few days they brought out a trap. Didn't set it, just left it by the house. They had told me all their traps were set out and it might be awhile.

Said to call once it was in the trap. It didn't go into the trap. After about a week I called to tell them to pick up the trap. Never ever could I get a person. Always an answering machine saying to call another number which also had an answering machine.

I left repeated messages stating the trap was where they left it and I would not be responsible if someone else walked away with it.

Never got a call back. After three weeks a friend said leave a message stating there was a starving cat in the trap about to die and they might want to try and get here before WYFF News 4 does. Was a great idea but I didn't do it.

Finally, the trap was gone. I don't even know who got it. I could see why all the traps were said to be set out.

Anyway, I'll not deal with them again. DNR can tell me my legal options I guess but I don't care to buy a hunting license.

I did not realize how much property damage these Groundhogs are capable of. The more I think about it, the sooner I'll go pick up some 00 buck shot although I don't want to.

That is typical story, I have had about the same here with ours.
I didn't mean them, I meant an actual company that deals with this stuff, a professional, like a 'Pest Control Company', not a city worker that doesn't take his (hourly) job serious enough. (Actually, here, we have Animal Control Officers, which look like the Police, (with guns) they take down your complaint and then do nothing I guess.
The reason I say that is, I have called over 15 times to our Animal Control, they say they can't find the neighbor dog in question that I called about which is barking constantly, and I do mean constantly. I guess now I will just have to call the Police and see what they do, calling them enough 'should' help them decide to make the Animal Control do something about it all.

A few years back I had MANY, MANY (11) feral cats in my backyard, I called ALL of the places that were supposed to help, but they were all full of feral cats and dogs, so I was left with nothing, I had to fend for myself.
What I ended up doing was trapping the cats my self with a (actually 3) cages that were exactly what the City uses, I got them for $17.00 at Harbor Freight. (After your problem's solved, you can sell these at a reduced rate on Craigslist if you want, I gave mine away to a neighbor)
I placed them in 3 areas in my backyard with cat food, and waited, it took them a while to trust the new 'thing' in the yard, but eventually I got a couple. I had also worked out a deal with a 'No Kill' place that helped me find a Vet that would spay and neuter them for a small price, so I took the cats there then released them. Now I had to catch the others, it was HARD to do, the amount of frustration in this was crazy, but it had to be done.
Anyway, this has nothing at all to do with your problem, but this was a very had, And VERY EXPENSIVE thing for us to do, it cost us several hundred dollars before it was all said and done.
So, I can kind'a relate, kind'a...

I looked on YouTube to see if there was anything at all there, I found this...
http://www.youtube.com​/watch?v=YKPNmKnm9Ro
(These traps are identical to what I used on my cat problem...)
Be sure to look at ALL of the videos that apply, you are not the first, or last to have this problem, there is a good way, it's up to you to decide which is best for your problem.

Good luck with that though, I am SURE you'll need it!

Randy

Well I'm thinking trap now but relocating is a big concern. I'll eventually figure it out.

I had a gopher problem once and I lit a couple of roadside emergency flares and stuck then into his tunnel. He relocated pretty quickly...... to my neighbor's yard

They sell things that work like smoke bombs that are made specifically for getting ground hogs to abandon their holes. If you have a local feed store, or agricultural supply store, they will have them. I used to work where there were barns and livestock. Ground hogs burrowed many of the outbuildings, and we used these "bombs", They were very effective. Once a hole gets smoked out a couple times, they will abandon the hole. If they come bak in a week or two, just do it again. Eventually they leave and don't come back (until the following spring, when there are new young 'hogs looking for a home).

This time of year, once you get rid of it you won't have anything to worry about until next year.