THIS thing is eating my tomatoes... and ate ALL leaves of the zuccinis and cucumbers.... and the hollyhoks.... needless to say I am @#$%$##
ID this horrible creature please!!!!
that is a woodchuck, aka ground hog, relative of squirrels and other nasty large rodents that prefer gardens to anything on earth.
thanks.... now I know my intruder by name.... how do I get rid of him???
I don't know of any groundhog deterrents, short of a shotgun........I just put little fences around anything i don't want them into...
ok.... I am not going to kill anything... but I can fence it up... can plastic fence keep them away??
Probably....they aren't the most creative creatures....I have used that moveable stuff that people use to edge their beds with...about a foot high....had a pair as pets when I was a kid...adorable little things.......had to let them go when they got older though, but they came back every year to visit me.....only live about 3 or 4 years though.
You can also trap them with a "Have a Heart" trap and then relocate them far, far, far away. We paid a wildlife pest service to trap our family of 5 (a mother and 4 babies) last year. I think there may be some law about removing animals from their habitat, but they are certified to do it and keep them in the same general area. One woodchuck does enough damage but 5 was awful and the price for the service was $300 which was less than what I paid for all of the annuals they were eating. Eleanor
My great uncle had a feud with a wood chuck. I would go up and visit and see the critter in his garden. I would call, "Uncle Fritz, the woodchuck is in the garden!" He would reply, "Let me get my gun." I'd swear that critter understood, 'cause he wouldn't leave when I was there or when I spoke, but when the word gun was uttered or my uncle came out, he would disappear!
I screamed at him yesterday... he comes in every day around 1:30pm. so I told my sister to scream and have Victor play outside at that time!!!! but I am going to fence it up ... he has not touched any of the herbs or roses... so I am not going to kill him...
aren't they the creatures that predicts if spring is coming or not??
Yep, there the ones that usually break our hearts every Feb and predict 6 more weeks of winter. Why doesn't someone close the darn door so he can't run back in? Duh!
oh kassia , woodchucks can be a terrible nusance my mother had one a few years ago that ate everything ! she has since fenced in her veggie garden . I read that you should bury the fence a little so they don't tunnel under . you could probably staple gut some chicken wire around yourraised beds . my friend phylis's aunt was just telling me that she had one and called to get ride of it they said they didn't do woodchucks because the state wil not allow them to relocate them in another spot, they are territorial and would surely die ( be killed)
I am still waiting for a visit
laura
( a visit from you, not a woodchuck : )
Kassia, remember the woodchuck's seatbelt when driving to Laura's!.
lol!!!!!
I hope never see this thing again... but see, even my family told me it's ok if he eats some tomatoes... we have plenty of tomatoes... oh they are soft!!!!! and he ate all the bad leaves of the zuccinis anyway.... tons of powdery mildew!!!!
I will do something about it... my neighboor has abig hole in his garden and the told me it was a tunnel that "woody" did it... I am naming the stupid thing!!!
Laura, I am visiting you this week... no more excuses!!!! I called the Rose guy at the cape... he has some roses I want... no surprise there!!!!! I am thinking of going there!!!!! oh life!!!
Just dropped in here when I saw the subject line - and enjoyed myself enormously (all the more so because woodchucks are not something we have - badgers yes, squirrels yes, wood chucks - no no no). But this was incredibly funny - sorry, but the mention of the seatbelt - yup, I can relate to that - immediately pictured woody sitting up navigating "shorter if you turn right at the next turning - wanna' mint? Hey, isn't there a Diary Queen up here on the left? Shall we take a break?".
Many thanks for brightening up a rather pooped gardener - chain saw and strimmer day. Phew - hot bath now.
yes, don't you try to convince me it is neno, you could put a little bow in his hair and without my glasses it just might work! lol
laura
now ... now... now.... I could never get away with that!!!!!... Woody is very ugly!!!! he needs plastic surgery to look like Lilly!!!!!! and he looks very greasy and dirty!!!!!! lol!!!!
Laurie1 .... you can count on us .... the chattiest people on DG for a good laugh!!!
Now you gone and done it Kassia - lowered the poor woodchuck's self esteem even more than it was before! Go get him, give him a good bath and a blow dry and tell him he is a pretty boy! Then put him in a big box and ship him to Laurie1 - they need woodchucks!
lol.... oh dear I am afraid to interfere with Nature.... can you just imagine what the other woodchucks would say about him??? lol....
they would say o-lala
Kassia - you torture JBs to death - isn't that interfering with nature - now go get the woodchuck and use bubble bath!
yes maybe he is just frustrated because he is so ugly , he 's an emotional eater and can't help himself a day of beauty might be just what he needs to leave your veggies alone!
well, jb kills my roses..... so far Woody have not come close to a rose bush!!!!! he better never do that!!!!!
emotional eater???? he is pretty selective.... he bites a tomato and doesn't finish!!!! just leave the rest hanging there!!!!
That's exactly what the crows do, too. They dive bomb the very best of the tomatoes, which is why the tomato section of the vegetable garden is now totally enclosed with mesh.
oh no rest for us...lol!!!!!! no crows around my house!!!!! no birds on the tomatoes... just the sunflowers... wow they break my sunflowers.... and chipmucks do that also!!!!!
they are so entretaining!!!!
I hope you all don't mind if I jump in here, but these awful creatures are the scourge of my gardens, and they'll eat anything given a chance. You can put up a fence and bury it, but don't forget they can climb. I spent a tidy sum fencing my veggie garden with post and rail and chicken wire. The wire component was buried 2 feet deep and the trench filled with large rocks. My veggie garden was glorious that year . . . until the @#$%^$#@# creatures ate it all, even the gourds. On top of this, the dratted monster(s) would be on top of the fence, stare me down and then chase me out of my own garden area. What a site it must have been -- big woman (by which I mean jiggly in all the wrong places) running very swiftly being chased by a relatively small furry critter :-). I've given up on the veggie garden until I can get rid of them. They do occassionally sample my roses, daylilies, hosta, and whatever else they feel like. I hope you can get rid of it soon -- don't let them multiply. Grammyphoeb, I am going to look into a service like you mentioned. I didn't realize they had such things. It seems a small price to pay in the long run. Good luck Kassia!
oh my goodness... that's sad.... can't believe it... for now I think is only one... but I am calling someone and finding out what is the deal here in MA!!!!!!!!
I will get peper spray if they ever come close!!!! yesterday I screamed and he run away!!!!
Mine don't run at all when I yell. Neither do the deer. I've even tried barking, growling and whistling. The wood chucks just stand on their stubby little legs and look at me. Then they go back to eating. The deer look at me, flap their tails a few times, waggle their ears . . . and go back to eating. The neighbors are going to have me commited one day :-)
Have you tried using a bullhorn like Ty Pennington?
hey that's a great idea!
oh kass you could get one of those motion activated sprinklers !
I know I have seen them I will google
laura
I googled and got lots, this one was on amazon
Contech Electronics Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler #CRO101/CRO102
Kassia,
I have a woodchuck size have a hart trap that I will bring over - just let me know a good time. If you bait it with the things that they like he'll go into it after a few days. A neighbor of mine uses watermelon rind and he always catches them! We caught one of the babies B.A. (Before Andrew) and took it to a new home (no one will know - they are not endangered).
Andrew is excellent woodchuck deterrent as well. Especially if you know where the critter lives.
they are very regular in their habits, as you say, every day around 1:30 - so if Andrew comes to visit around 1:00 or so he can scare the pants off that rat. I haven't seen our resident woodchuck and her family since Andrew chased her into her burrow. He periodically checks to make sure that she's still around. But she hasn't touched my garden since last May.
Let me know if I can help!
Deb
Oh Kassia you have my sympathy.
Can I get one of those sprinklers for my neighbors??
lol.... oh I love the ideas.... between Andrew and the sprinkler.... Woody has to go!!!!
if he only would stay in my neighbor side I would not mind!!!!!!haaaa
Kassia -
The girls go to school tomorrow. I can bring trap and Andrew by mid morning if that works for you. If you know where the entrance (one of them anyway - they always have several) to his burrow is, we can fill it with used kitty litter (I have that too!) and he'll avoid it.
I fought with these critters for years and I really feel for you - its frustrating to see all your gardening love and care and sweat disappear into it's fat furry gullet. The kids nicknamed the one who lives here "Satan". After Andrew, however, her name has been changed to "Kibble" (as in potential dogfood)!
Deb
Deb, I have no idea where is the burrow... is somewhere in the woods.. and I don't usually go there!!! I am not home in the afternoon... I will let you know.. I will talk to my mom about it tonight!!!
when i first moved here to CT i thought - o how cute! we didn't have woodchucks in St. Louis.
But they will eat anything.
Unfortunately, the wild dogs around here will eat them. I've seen it happen 3 times, and found one little woodchuck body that a dog just dropped in the yard. sigh.
i read somewhere that woodchucks are shy and easily startled, and will go for an easier lunch if they sense motion. i got some foil pinwheels at walmart - the biggish ones, about 4" across. they make just a little rustling noise when the wind blows through them, enough to make me turn around, and they definitely seemed to help. my only problem is they disappear a lot (other apartment dwellers and/or the lawnmowing contractors) and i can't find them anywhere now...
amy
*
Woodchuck, you want some more? I have around 8 you can have for FREE!
A gun is the only real solution. I can't shoot here so Have a heart traps is the only way for me. Get this, where I live you aren't supposed to trap them and remove them from you property! Well guess what? I do. I'm not paying "animal control" to remove them. I catch them and bring them a few miles away (at least 5) and release them.
This year they seem smarter....