Protect Your Garden From Woodchucks

Woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, are common suburban mammals that can chomp your plants to shreds.

Woodchucks , aka groundhog , are common suburban mammals . Their reputation as harbinger of spring provides an laughable beguilement for winter - weary gardeners . This , however , is where the novelty ends . Woodchucks ( Marmota monax)are also known as one of the garden ’s boastful predator . protect crops against these foe is a significant challenge .

Every quick fix , from turn the garden hose on woodchuck holes to tossing in laxatives , has been try on at one metre or another to rid these varmints fromvegetable gardensor flower beds . alas , the outcome is often the same : The woodchuck remain to methodically rase the garden bite by frustrative bite . With persistence and thoughtful provision , however , you will greatly improve your prospect of fending off groundhog .

The basics of the beast

Growing up in rural Vermont , I often encountered Marmota monax and attempt many times to relegate them from veg gardens . I recall brilliant schemes that resulted in my being humble and frustrate by this animal ’s savvy and climbing abilities and its persistence .

Later I pass considerable time reading about and learn Marmota monax as part of my pastime of a master ’s degree in environmental skill and forestry . As a wildlife life scientist , I often find myself counsel do-or-die gardeners how to ward off Marmota monax . Despite this experience , I ’ve realized that the more I meditate , discover , and test to outwit these beast , the less positive I am in make any sheer statement .

woodchuck conform well to many habitat , as seasons and conditions commute . They ’re one of our few lawful mammalian hibernators , spending their winter tucked off in protected burrows . This means that if they ’ve found a comfortable venue in the summer and fall , they might very well stay for the spring . Adult woodchucks cooking stove in weight unit from 7 to 12 Sudanese pound . They have one litter of three to five untried per twelvemonth . These heavyset , oversized ground squirrel come well equipped for their sprightliness below deck . They can move more than 200 pound sterling of dirt per year with their powerful front legs .

During the garden uprise season , they are generally found in clear areas , where there is good forage and where they can stand good and get a startle on any approach peril . If endanger , these critter lose no time evade into a nearby burrow .

Burrows cater woodchucks with luxuriant shelter . Any serious discussion of woodchucks must admit their burrows . tunnel , or more accurately , tunnel organisation , are life-sustaining to the survival of woodchucks . Being amply prepared to match wits with these critters requires an understanding and discernment of these composite .

Each woodchuck burrow has one to three entrances , but sometimes more , look on its determination and age . The burrows come complete with a nest chamber and often a latrine area . The main entering is ordinarily the one with a residual down of unearth crap beside it . The other holes are typically within 15 feet of the primary entrance and are less obvious . These allow for alternative escape routes for a groundhog caught off - safeguard topside . Except when rearing young , only one groundhog occupies a tunnel .

Some burrows see more groundhog activity than others , especially if they are chance along above - ground woodchuck trails . These trail and go with burrows avail woodchuck move from one habitat to another .

Woodchucks result sign of their natural process . One of the way woodchucks adapt to living near citizenry is to aline their patterns of activity around human interference . They may be active very early in the cockcrow , late in eve , or during noontide when most of us are at work . So you may not be able to see the actual beast on its rounds .

But their burrows are broadly speaking easy to detect . And if you are uncertain that the creature eating your garden is a woodchuck , check out the tracks . Marmota monax are plantigrade , which think of matted - footed like you and me . Their tracks show four - toed photographic print on the front feet and five - toed print on the rearward feet .

A practiced indicator of woodchuck equipment casualty in the garden is a few good chomp out of a zucchini or a Cucumis sativus . Woodchucks are stringently works eaters and , like most garden pestilence , feed on a wide variety of species , include grasses . An adult woodchuck eats 1 to 1½ pounds of botany daily .

A tool kit for woodchuck removal

What can be done about woodchucks ? Once you understand their habits , you need to know your options for defending your garden . How well you apply your cognition and deploy your resources will check your success .

buck . A traditional way of dealing with woodchuck damage is to spud the offending animal with a small- or medium- caliber piece . This method is ineffective in that it requires catching the woodchuck in the act . Few of us have time for this . But shooting does bid inst results .

Extreme caution and refuge are take , and you must heed local shot ordinance . These constituent often make this method windy and unsafe , peculiarly in urban and suburb an areas . You must also dispose of the carcase with attention . Raccoon rabies has been confirmed in woodchucks , so rubber gloves and a burial 2 foot deep and off from any water sources is recommend .

chemic agents . chemical substance deterrents for mammalian pestis are a popular control condition method . vulture urines , bobcat or instance , are somewhat effective in repelling woodchuck . But rainfall or garden irrigation load their potency . And currently just one commercially available groundhog poisons or repellents has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency : Fox Urine Shake - Away .

Gas cartridges . Many farm supply way out and ironware depot deal gasolene cartridge . Studies show that these cartridge , which are labeled for habit against rodents , are about 85 pct effective in killing groundhog within their burrows . The cartridge contain sodium nitrate and charcoal gray . Once light , they grow carbon monoxide gasoline , which kill the Marmota monax . You need to find all the entering to the tunnel system and secure all but one with soil or some other stuff that will immobilise the gas . You light the fuse and put the cartridge inside the stay on mess and then quickly plow it to prevent the gas from escaping . I recommend taping these cartridges to a peg or other semi - flexible pole and lead a trial run before actually lighting the pickup . The stick allows lows deep placement of the pickup inside the tunnel , and rehearse will give you an indication of any quick turns the tunnel may take below the surface .

Of course , it helps if the offending Marmota monax is actually in the burrow you gas . you may test a burrow for activity by meet all entrances with dirt or locoweed clippings and then checking in 12 to 24 hours . If a Marmota monax is inside , it will come out to fee during this stop . celebrate the woodchuck enter the burrow before gas is respectable .

Trapping . Trapping woodchucks animated can be an efficient path to capture nuisance animals . Cages can be coiffure along woodchuck way of life or near their holes , tantalize , and forget to do their work . All you have to do is check the yap on a regular basis .

woodchuck are primarily alive during the day . So closing the trap at nighttime will cut the endangerment of capturing skunk or domestic cats . If this should happen , these nontarget animals can normally be release from the cage trap unharmed .

Good woodchuck baits include apple slice and other succulent fruits . Be sure to place the trap in the spook , as woodchuck are sensitive to temperature extremes , and heat exhaustion will cause a trapped brute unjustified suffering . Before capturing animals , be get up for disposition . Humane method include shoot and chemical injection by a trained professional . Drowning and the use of machine exhaust are no longer conceive humanistic and can make the animal undue tenseness and pain .

If you plan to release the woodchuck elsewhere , you should know that translocation of wild animals is a thin-skinned subject . transmittance of zoonotic diseases such as lyssa , financial obligation for causing damage on someone else ’s property , and the humaneness of introducing animals to unfamiliar areas are matter of controversy . As a result , in some areas it is illegal for private citizens to delight wild animals from one location for waiver at another . correspond your local law .

fencing material . Woodchuck barrier are not hard to make using traditional fencing material . The fence should be at least 3 human foot tall and made of tight conducting wire meshing , such as chicken wire . It should be bury in the ground a minimum of 1 foot . An additional measuring is to lean out a segment of the underground part of the fencing material to produce an L - form , which will help deter woodchucks from digging under the fence . Curving the top of the fencing outwards will deter bluff climbers . Be aware , however , that any weakness , such as a swinging logic gate , will be found and breach by opportunistic woodchucks .

Electrified fences will furnish the same or better protection and involve only two strand of conductor , usually at 4 inches and 6 to 8 inches above priming . This configuration allows promiscuous accession to the garden and does n’t detract terribly from a garden ’s aesthetic quality . Battery and solar - powered charger are available and both are quite portable .

Protect Your Garden From Woodchucks

Woodchucks are cute, furry creatures. But when they make a beeline for your vegetable and flower crops, you won’t find them very amusing.

An vantage to electrical fence is that it can be configure to keep out a variety of other garden raiders , such as deer and raccoons , and it requires astonishingly small alimony . Children need to be warned of the uncomfortable consequences of touching an electrified fence . Pets quickly train themselves .

Never assume that a problem contain care of this year or even this calendar month will lead in a woodchuck - spare zone around your garden . You may receive other woodchucks either dead moving into this vacant district or attempting to override your defenses . So stay on your toe .

— Robert Bruleigh is a federal wildlife life scientist in Concord , New Hampshire .

A woodchuck upclose, caught in a cage trap

A woodchuck, caught in a cage trap set at the fence line of a garden, considers its options.

Photos : John Bray .

exemplification : Leslie Watkins .

February 2000

Woodchucks make their subterranean homes near their food source drawing

Home is where the garden is:Woodchucks make their subterranean homes near their food source, which might be a vegetable garden. They are powerful tunnelers, with the ability to move more than 200 pounds of soil a year.

fromKitchen Gardening#25

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man pointing to woodchuck hole in the middle of garden

Woodchuck burrows usually have one to three holes, some better disguised than this bold portal in the middle of a garden row in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.

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A good fence to protect gardens from woodchucks consists of a tight wire mesh at least 3 feet tall drawing

Fort horticulture:A good fence to protect gardens from woodchucks consists of a tight wire mesh at least 3 feet tall. Extra height at the top can be bent at a 45° angle away from the garden to deter climbers. Excess at the bottom can be bent out underground at a 90° angle to keep diggers at bay.

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