ID this horrible creature please!!!!

Victor, please do not give the groundhogs any ideas about catapults. They don't need catapults anyway - they can fly. LOL

Good luck tonight Kassia. Hope tomorrow that you have a woodchuck in your trap. Eleanor

Ok everyone the trap has been set.... let's hope woody show up today... and get inside!!!

Did you put out a nice plate of tomatoes for him/her?

tomatoes and leaves... the one he likes to eat!!!!

Kassia...if you want them dead and gone...I can tell you what to do...I did for the first 4 years living in my home, try to fence, bury fence, move raised beds over construction netting, and fenced in, tried to rebury the holes, let my Komondor loose on them, put M-80s down the holes, bought those really tiny and sharp carpet tacks and threw them in the holes...it was an ongoing battle for 4 years...until...da da da dummm....I found out, from an old farmer guy, that Agway makes a 'Gopher/Woodchuck Bomb'...be forwarned of a few things...first, this is permanent, in the permanently dead sort of way, and it can be a little labor intensive, and last but not least...I watch the discovery/animal planet to much...Keep in mind that their tunnels can be anywhere from 3-4' down, and anywhere from 5'10 wide/long. They usually have a seperate chamber for a nursery, sleeping, and going to the bathroom, a regular Woodchuck haven...now for the bad part...If you are going to/intend on using the 'woodchuck bomb' keep all of this info on mind...I didn't...lol. You must first find the entrance and exit holes...do this in the hottest part of the day, while they are in their burrows...next take a large piece of 3/4" plywood, and place over one end of their tunnel, put several cinder blocks on it, then, after igniting the 'woodchuck bomb' and throwing it down the exposed hole, repeat the plywood thing again...keep in mind that the woodchucks do make noise, and after they die, they rot...this part I didn't take into consideration...and smelled up my backyard for a few weeks...I know this sounds extreme and mean, my last straw though, wasn't the veggies, perennials or annuals, it was my leg/knee almost breaking after stepping into a new hole.

I stepped into a hole and almost broke my leg. Then it or them dug a hole in a bank and the bank washed out and had us in trouble with the State of NH, as the bank washed into a brook. You can't in NH alter the brooks. I hate killing, I don't know what happened, I don't want to know what happened. DH took care of it or them and had to replace the bank and put a birm on the bank. I hope I said this right.

Does a dog deter them? My neighbor's dog is always out - maybe that's why I don't (yet) have a problem with them?

Victor, and everyone else...a dog can deter them...also if you have any feral kitties around, and they are big enough, they can help out too! My friend James lives about a mile away from me, and he's never had a problem with live woodchucks...see...James lives across the street from a cemetary, in which thrives a feral cat population...he finds many dead/half eaten woodchucks, but no live ones. My dog is about 84lbs...and she's a guard dog...now if your neighbors dog is a little Pug...I'd be afraid that the woodchuck would do some damage, there teeth are ferocious...I believe (I think this may have been a Snapple fact) that there teeth can be anywhere from 2-3" long. ouch.

thanks.... I have no idea where the entrance is... but one part of the tunnel I know... there is a depression on the back yard very close to my property lane... I think the hole is right in the middle of an area that we have tons of poison ivy... and I also avoid going there because every time I went there I got ticks... and I am so afraid of ticks....

my dogs are Shitzus... good noise makers... but I think Woody would eat them... no way I want them that close....

I am going to ME tomorrow... no signs of woody today... my sister and mother were watching! so I am not setting the trap in case he comes in and my family will do nothing about it.... but I will be back sunday...

I will check on the bomb thing.... thanks!!!!

Here is the answer....get the have a heart trap, bait and catch. Put loaded have a heart trap in your car. Drive south until you reach the Garden State Parkway. Release. They love living on the Parkway and if they get a bit too rambunctious a car runs them over. But be aware that they often carry roundworm so don't touch them.

Kassia, you're going in the wrong direction :~>

ok... next week I will make it to NJ!!!!

OK, stop by and say HI! You can visit the "shore" at the best time, after the....................ummm, visitors have left.

ok!!!!

venu coming from NJ.... i get your ummmm statement... you must love this time of year

kassia i went through the same thing last year with the groundhogs.... I came home from work one day and the garden was destroyed... what they didn't eat they just smashed passing by... i trapped 4 of them... and had them relocated... it doesn't take long... i set the traps the day after it rained and i knew they were hungry ... after that it was only a few short hours before they were locked up... lettuce carrots and apples work really well

not too nice when they are in the cage so be careful handling it..besides the roundworm.... the one was growling and clacking it's teeth at me ... all the babies were fine... too scared to move

good luck

I have a dog & 6 cats.

I have NEVER had a problem with garden varmints. Not mice, not woodchucks, not squirrels, not rabbits, not moles, not nothing.

They might hang around, but they learn to run very, very fast.

Otherwise, they make great compost.

eeewwwwww..... summer..... that thought wasn't too good with my morning bagel

:)

my two yorkies aren't really going to scare away much.... the squirrels and chipmunks laugh at them on the other side of the fence

venu - we're anxiously awaiting the departure of the "summer people", too! They still return on weekends through Thanksgiving, though. Need a trap for them!

ROFL Pirl. Now that's a trap I'd invest in!

Out here our winter population is around 5,000.
Summer gives us 20,000.

It's almost fun to hear the day trippers, weekenders, summer home renters speak of "the nerve" of our little local supermarket not being open beyond 8 PM and that's just for Fridays. It's 7 PM for other days and 6 PM for Sundays. They're outraged.

Isn't that too bad for them?!!

I think I'll pass on the postal order woodchuck - much more fun reading about you handling it. Me, I managed to scare a mouse into the house last night - grrrrr - terrier was out mousing on the back area - had one cornered, and as I came round the corner he looked up and zip - there goes mousey straight into the kitchen and under the refrigerator. nutsnutsnuts. And that d/@# terrier he just looked at me as if to say "you let him in, you get him out" and off he went to find something else to bark at. Nothing like a well trained dog - too bad I've got a terrier. He says that's better than a dog. Have to say I do agree, but if you can't blame the terrier - well.....the only thing left would be DH, and he gets more than his share.

no sign of woody yesterday or today...

Oh I hate mouses too... we had one once at the condo and it was so horrible... finally my sister killed it...

Maybe groundhogs celebrate the long weekend too.

Victor, I thought their holiday was in February.

But everyday is...

yeah... he took off for Labor day!!!!

I can sympathize with you. I had a small vegetable garden a few years ago and the woodchuck /resident Woodchuck family somehow knew the exact day that I was going to harvest a crop of let us say lettuce and would eat the entire crop the day before. I put a low fence arround the garden but he/she just dug under it. I even strung an electric fence arround it and turned up the power until it hummed. The woodchuck still ate everything and the only thing shocked by the fence was myself when I backed into it as I bent over a few times. I gave up vegetable gardening and now raise only Rhododendrons and azaleas and flowers which they leave alone. Apprantly he has since moved on or died. Ihope it is the later.
arfitz

This thread is too funny! Although I do sympathize with those of you suffering from the woodchucks. I saw them everywhere, all the time, when I lived in upstate NY, but I haven't seen any down here in SC, so maybe they don't live here.

I read a few years ago that pouring used kitty litter around the perimeter of your yard would repel some wildlife, but I can't remember which ones. I'll have to see if I can find it on the net.

SC newbie ... do you miss them??? as soon as I get this one I will mail it to you!!!! just kidding....

no sign of Woody yet... I am calling home to see if he is around!!!!

LOL Actually, I always thought they were cute little fat things, but I'd be very angry at them trashing my garden, too.

So I'll pass on the woodchuck, but I'll take a couple 'possums if you want to send them my way - I need them to kill the snakes in my back 2 acres. lol

Snakes - just realized I have not seen one all season long. Now that I've said that they'll probably start swarming (I mean slithering) out of the woods. Might be because we got rid of the huge ditch lily patch long the back of our yard - could aways find them in there - great hiding place. Eleanor

Kassia - any luck with the trap? It could be that the cooler nights are making Mr. Woodchuck think it's time to hibernate....
anyway, Andrew is back from vacation, and if how he took off after rabbits and foxes this morning is any indication, his nose is in fine fettle and he's probably up for a woodchuck chase!
Let me know if you want him to patrol your yard!
Deb

oh, that's why Woody is not coming out!!!!! lazy creature... a little cold and he wants to sleep...

Deb, I would hate for Andrew to get ticks ... and every time one of my dogs went in the woods they came back with ticks... but let's see... I will definitly be happy to see Andrew....

I just met 2 pugs... the cutest dogs... and one is named Kassie.... it was hysterical.... she is so cute and friendly.... I could totally bring her home with me.... my next 2 dogs will be named Kassie and Rose... lol!!!!

Andrew gets tick meds - he is not so tasty to them... me, on the other hand... I'm probably a tempting treat!
I'm finally getting over the tick phobia.
Pugs are very cute. Andrew played with a puppy named Willy today - totally rolled him in the dust!
Let me know when is a good time to bring Andrew over for a sniff...
Deb

I got bit by a tick once. Under my arm. I was in the shower and felt it - screamed to DH and he came in and pulled that rasin looking thing off me. I got rash 6 inches in dia. 1 year later to the date my cat had a tick. It was a deer tick. She did not have to go for antibiotics as the tick had just bit and just began to feed.

Long story short - We both lived.

schickenlady -
did you test positive for Lyme disease? that is my biggest fear. I've seen what it can do to friends and family.

The ticks were sent to the Univeristy Of New Hampshire UNH. I was told, I did not have to go under treatment, by UNH, as it was not a deer tick. Back when I got bit (1987?), DEER TICKS was the carrier, working it's way up the Eastern Coast. I got bit by the wood tick - I think that was what it was called?

I think things have changed from deer to wood ticks - carrying the lyme disease? If you get bit, get it in something. Bring it to the Vets ( I had to bring it to the Vets) and get it in formeldahyde? Send it to where ever the doctors tell you to. You have to pay for it but back then, they tracked those sucking no good evil THINGS.

1. wear clothing to cover skin.
2. Put something on skin to keep them off !

Sorry last thing - If you have dogs make sure they are on the right meds.


This message was edited Sep 7, 2007 1:52 PM

I hate ticks... by all means...