Bought the new building a few months ago. I noticed a few holes here and there but no life showing. Filled them in. Each time they of course are dug open by the next day.
I have been setting traps. Caught a coon, 2 cats and a possum. No ground hogs. I know there are methods to kill them in place but in a couple places they are tunneled up under the floor of the shop. Hate to create stink heaven there. Any methods or ideas? I would shoot them if I could see them. DanT
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Any F16s in the area? Call in with the coordinates, and ask for something heavy, like a junior bunkerbuster.
Then run like h$ll.
LOL..Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
I have had some success with flooding them out. Stick a garden hose in one hole and watch for water to come out the others. As they crawl out, pick them off.
I am not sure if I'd try it when they have tunneled under a floor though, probably cause more problems.
Matt- Woods favorite carpenter.
About twenty years ago my brother-in-law, a farmer, had a sure-fire way to get rid of them by flooding with a twist. We'd each get a shotgun and load up the Honeywagon. After scouting out the hole locations in the field, he'd direct the Honeywagon nozzle into one of the holes and let it rip. It didn't take long for the groundhogs to emerge and the shooting to start. We could clear out several dens in a half hour.
Needless to say, nobody would want to eat those groundhogs!
If your ground hog is the same as our woodchuck, try cantalope for bait. It's irresistable to them.
Kinda late in the season to be planting melons ain't it?Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Weed burner.
Start the propane flow but do no light.
Insert into uphill hole, let run for about 3 minutes.
Backoff about 20 or 30 feet, light the torch, hold it well in front of you and approach hole.
WHOOMP, typically a 10 ft dia burn circle on the ground, fire shooting out other open holes , everything in the hole should be dead.
Caution: Dont try this in dry conditions!! Left a scorch circle on the lawn once even during a drizzle going after moles.
edit - WHOOPS!! re-read your OP, probably NOT a good idea if they are coming up under your shop! <G>
Edited 11/11/2007 9:26 am ET by junkhound
I had a buddy who would live-trap ground hogs because they were getting in his vegetable garden despite a wire fence around the garden. I asked him what he did with the ground hogs. He told me he released them up in Barton Hills (the super-expensive part of town). He said he wanted them "to live the good life."
Chip Tam
I'm thinking a good dose of mace or pepper spray in the holes.
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
As a kid I remember my uncle making us light off these sticks and stuff them into the holes.
He told us not to breathe the smoke, kick some dirt on them and run.
Minutes later smoke was rolling out of dozens of holes, very cool sight to see. But I never saw one come out of the holes.
Probably illegal now anyway. But along the lines of mace or pepper spray.
Matt- Woods favorite carpenter.
at least flame and smoke make us think we are accomplishing something
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I thought that was smoke and mirrors?
Thems was sulfer candles, we used them when I was a bugman. I recall being in a crawlspace when my partner lost track of where I was and had begun lighting two or three of them in the same side of the crawl as I was in.
I about died, but man o man did I break all speed crawling records. I left a flashlight down there now tha I think about it.
Pretty sure they are not illegal, but mabe hard to track down with out a PCO license.Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
"If you want something you've never had, do something you've never done"
Hmmm, nothing sounds too promising. Must be why they have been around so long. Well, sulphur candles, mace, water or something. I will give it some thought. Thanks for the advice! DanT
Very surprised that not one posters recommended:
Napalm!Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Ever see the movie "Caddyshack" ???(-:
You can do it anyway you want to as long as you do it my way first.
BossHog,
LOL I saw this thread about 15 minutes ago. I was thinking of Caddyshack. Nobody has suggested plastic explosives... yet
Northeastvt
"Thems was sulfer candles. Pretty sure they are not illegal, but mabe hard to track down with out a PCO license."
Had a ground hog problem after living at our house more than 12 years. What ended up working were the sulfur candles.....the local ACE Hardware had them. First time I tried them I put a couple in the latest open hole. Didn't get him....the critter moved on and opened up a new hole. The second time I did it I put it in both ends of his most recent tunnel.....and I haven't heard from him since.
I figure I'll run into his skeleton when I get around to putting in a sprinkler system.charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
I have a friend here who makes his living eradicating gophers and moles out of vineyards, orchards , and fields.
His technique is to find the run or hole, open it up, place several small shovelfuls of agricultural sulphur into the hole and then lights that using a weedburner.
Goes around and covers or tamps all the smoke holes.
The pressure from the weedburner helps force the sulpher gas and fumes into the tunnels and runs.
Don't know if it will help you , but there it is .
If you get it figured out, I have about three clan's worth of mountain beavers you can come and get rid of, too.
And yes, they are all over, under every structure I have...
Bout broke my leg a couple times stepping on one of their burrows. What do these things DO with the dirt ??? LOL It doesn't mound up above their burrow...
Broccoli is supposed to be a great lure for wood chucks.
castor beans, dropped into the holes. They kill them.
also dangerous if eaten by humans.
Woodchucks hibernate in Northeast. In spring, b4 they mate, get havaheart trap, put in a tomato, then figure out where you can let it go once caught.
We had as many as 12 on Maine property and was told by "expert" spreading organic fertilizer chased them away. However, they wind up on neighboring property. Should prob. be community effort because the specialist "trapper" stopped returning calls this year. Even with all the graveyards we have in New England, woodchucks are somewhat territorial, so ....
We also have foxes and owls on property, apparently nothing eats woodchucks.
But then we also have deer and Japanese beetles eating whatever they want, so the real solution. PLANT EXTRA. and laugh as much as you can
We've always released them at the local hoity toity country club golf course. Obviously I'm not a golfer.
------------------
"You cannot work hard enough to make up for a sloppy estimate."
They need plenty of holes at the golf course anyways! Let's see here now...Back to math class -
twenty three foursomes play eighteen holes and seven foursomes play nine holes - how maany holes did the golf course use up that day?Bet the dirt rats can replace them all overnight!;)
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
I ate some woodchuck (same thing as groundhog) once many years ago. A neighbor had shot it, cooked it and invited me for lunch. Not bad, as I recall, rather tasty in fact better than chicken. I had one in my garden this summer and easily caught it in a haveahart trap baited with melon rind. I let him go at an old disused farm several miles away. It was just too cute to kill and I wasn't hungry anyway.
I've used "Gopher Gassers" in the past, got them at the local harware store.Light the fuse put them in the hole. Then watch for smoke from the other holes and slip another one in. No problems for years now.
When I looked up sulphur candles on Google, I came up with a make your own!
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/fumcandle.htmlYou get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
We used to use road flares. Dig down to the run, put two in (one facing each direction) and fill in the dig. Worked, and those flares from the NAPA store were cheap, too.jose c.
--
"Though I don't think" added Deep Thought "that you're going to like it."
Animal blessings on you. Not many can see that killing a problem isn't the only way to deal with it.
Gas em with a hose attached to a engine exhaust. Plug all exit holes.
I tried the gas'em strategy on gophers a few years back. I'm kinda slow sometimes, but it finally dawned on me that the only way that one works is if you have an old beater piece of 60's Detroit iron, prefferably with some blown rings.
I was using my Toyota, which today with 99K miles just passed smog at less than 1% of allowed emmissions. Duh!
Still doesnt blow a lot of oxygen down the hole!
My uncle ask me to get rid of several ground hogs that were tunneling under his building. They had dug such a large area out that he was concerned the slab was going to give way when he pulled his cars in. Not sure what type of traps you have used. I had really good luck with a live trap. I baited it with fresh ears of corn. I set the trap right by the hole and disguised it by stacking old boards around it. Caught one everyday for a week.
Remember p'od my dad when as kids my bro and i decided we wanted a dirt puppy as a pet. Chased him into his hole in soybean field and started digging..4 hrs later and with field looking like Western Front we had this snarling creature in a chicken cage and put him in coop.Poor guy just didnt want to be domesticated.
Old timer told me to try gas soaked rags jammed and tamped in burrow.Thought id make it better and li them.DONT DO THAT!!!Stupid thing shot outta hole like cannon and started a lil fire. Shoved them back in and tamped it.."that'll get him".. week later hole was open and rags laying by entrance.!
I know you said you havn't seen them to do them in ,but them critters are right tasty this time of year, as they are almost fattened up enough to start hibernating sometime this month if they do start sleeping soon in your area you mind as well wait till spring when they wake up and are weak from hibernating to try to take care of the problem, then in my experiance they also spend more time away from their burrows thus exposing themselves more to predators and you . Ole timers around here in the mountains covered banjo heads with the tanned skins of groundhogs, it makes a tough but thin leather, and like I said they are pretty tasty when they are cooked right.
There were at least a couple groundhogs living under a slab in a pole barn I razed. Found them mixed with the concrete pieces after I broke it up for loading on dump trucks. Probably a little radical for your infestation.
I'd go for baited live traps, then drop them off distantly wherever you dislike someone. That's what I've been doing with rats for the last few years. Very satisfying.
Tomato-thieving groundhogs here have all gotten the shotgun treatment. No frost yet. Still have producing tomatoes on the roof.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
Over the years I have had a consistent supply of groundhogs make a den under my garage. Since I live in town there is no shooting option available.
Trapping would work, but it wouldn't be long before the next one would come along and take up residence.
Someone suggested a chicken wire fence, buried around the perimeter of the garage. It was a bit of work, but I trenched @ 18" deep around perimeter of the garage and buried the chicken wire against the building. I think that was 4 years ago, and I haven't had a problem since.
There was a few attempts made to get through the summer I buried the wire, but none since.
I'm surprised no one's mentioned this remedy yet.
watch old Bugs Bunny cartoons, the ones with Elmer Fudd out hunting.
THIS IS IMPORTANT!! DO THE OPPOSITE OF ELMER!!
If the ground hog starts logging on here, we'll know who won the battle. <G>
Some of the things that work for some people (and not for others, alas!) are moth balls, cat or dog ####, and hair. We had one invader in the raised-bed garden three years ago who left when we poured our own #### in the hole next to a decapitated squash, then dropped in some mothballs for good measure.
I don't have them in the yard bec of the dogs, i suppose, but the garden is off limits to the dogs so the ground hogs got casual for a bit. They are all around outisde the 'yard' fence now in the pasture, but they haven't come back to the garden. When i relocate the beds next Spring, i'm going to put chicken wire under the dirt for cheap insurance.
Edit: apparently U-R-I-N-E is a dirty word.
Edited 11/11/2007 11:51 pm by splintergroupie
Surprised no one has mentioned this yet - a good dog! We were getting seriously trashed by them in Tennessee. Had an entire bed of broccoli mowed in one night, just a week or so before harvest and that was the last straw.
Borrowed Joe, a neighbor's dog who had a particular taste for the critters - he caught 7 in 14 days. Joe liked his meat aged - he'd burry them for a few days before chowing down.
Had a friend whose dogs had a number of strategies. One was to wait right above the hole - sometimes for hours - until the sucker poked his head out - bam!
Mind you, this strategy requires a real country dog, preferrable a hungry one. The two I have now wouldn't know what to do if a groundhog came up and kicked them in the face...
Had an entire bed of broccoli mowed in one night, just a week or so before harvest and that was the last straw.
Thanks for confirming what I posted earlier. I guess no one believes that any thing...animal or human...would eat brocolli by choice.
Try Juicy Fruit gum. It works on moles and gophers. Might need a couple of big packs per hole. Unwrap it and stuff the sticks into the holes. It clogs (gums up) their intestines and they die.
I know that it sounds crazy but it has worked for me on gophers and moles.
In other words, you tell them to eat chic(lets) and die.
worked for me on gophers and moles
We stock Juicy Fruit too, for voles. Pretty sure it only works on small-sized digestive tracts. Read that bubblegum was better. Certainly not the brand we tried. Back to Juicy Fruit. Success.PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
HEY-
I like broccoli!
and brussel sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower...
Those suck.
But spinach ---- MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM. ;)
Just to stay on topic, we've got more ground hogs than we can deal with. So I don't. But they stay away from my stuff too.Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
HEY-
I like broccoli!
and brussel sprouts, asparagus, cauliflower...
Me too. I've got two small bundles of collard greens in the fridge's vegetable bin right now.
I guess that must mean that we're related to Punxsutawney Phil or should at least join the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.
Last week, DW and I were in New Orleans. We went to a soul food restaurant where I had the best collard greens I'd ever eaten.
I don't know why people don't like veggies. Maybe its the way some people cook them?
I found that the pressure cooker is the answer for preserving flavor in veggies. Ten minutes is about right for collards, with the stems. A few cloves of garlic and some fresh ground black pepper, sauteed gently in olive oil while the collards are cooking will heighten their flavors while being very healthy and easy to digest. I often add a small can of tomato sauce and an herb too.
No ground hogs allowed in the kitchen unless eviserated and skinned.
Hmm, I look forward to having ground hogs in my kitchen. Usually means sausage with the morning eggs.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
moth balls work pretty good on woodchucks, gophers and skunks. put them in a hole and cover it up with something heavy. At the other holes put something that will show that the gopher left the hole. Ex we put flour on the ground around the hole so it shows that the gopher left and did not come back
Rodenator
http://www.rodenator.com/products_access.htm
Heres a video of it in action
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2386436112453851581&q=rodenator&total=20&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
Now that video is way cool! I would pay to see that in action.You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Most of the rest of you make me kinda sorry we share the same genetic material.
You serve groundhogs to your guests as well? ;-)
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
I suppose i was choosing to see Edwin as a reformed killer. Too optimistic by half, eh? I confess i find it curious that you would die before killing another human while happily chowing down on those whose DNA is just barely tweaked from your own. I wonder at what point the majority of humans will be offended by casual killing and exploitation as i am. Look up "chimeras" sometime to get a glimpse of a brave new world of slavery.
I just consider that we are omnivores by nature.Apologize to it, Thanks it for it's gift . Same with plucking a plant. I do trap and move when possible or applicable. The skunk that kept returning to her den under my house however met with the final trip . Ten miles out of town apparently isn't far enough for her species.
They can't get your Goat if you don't tell them where it is hidden.
Nature can be improved upon, especially human nature.
Wow! That sure is something. Can't wait to show the guys at the shop that video! DanT
.222 caliber steel jacketed lead pills work great up to 106 yards.
.22 lead pills work well also if your close up.
I sprayed a bunch of ether in a hole one morning and tossed a cigarette at it. Ya, it shot out a pretty blue flame and one running rodent never to be seen again.
I have used a .22 on the few things that I caught in the traps so far. But am trying the moth ball deal currently. If that is a no go I think I will go next to the water .22 idea. I really think they are kind of neat to watch. But I simply can't have them under the building. DanT
I can see another problem tho. Suppose you eliminate the ground hogs AND the potential for more squatters moving in. How are you going to fill in the tunnels, so as to avoid future sinkholes? Bloody hell!! The mouzies are baaaaack!
Airdale Terrier...
Scotties are pretty good too :-)
Actually, I've had good luck with cement on ground squirrels and gophers. Just dump about a half-cup of dry mix in the hole. I guess the lime irritates their feet. They're usually gone in a day or two. I don't know if it would work on a groundhog.
Edited 11/13/2007 6:53 pm ET by Ray
New England woodchucks are as big as Scotties - I wouldn't risk my Cairn...
My grandfather's Airdales brought home a dead woodchuck about every day in the summer - they cleaned up about 500 acres, only 100 of which belonged to my family.
Dunno about groundhogs but my wife fed a gopher hole with the produce of our 129 lb lab. It took about a week and the hole was full and stayed that way.
Mesic
Your wife's pretty smart. That trick also works for dogs trying to dig something up or dig out of the yard.
Lay some brass wire snares, one per hole, anchored to a small eyebolt screwed into the building's skirting or sill beam. The snares will get em coming and going, and keep them there for easy retrieval. No stink under your building. Dispose of with a spade in your yard.
This method has worked for a big ole hog that had burrowed under a cottage.