Groundhog

[RogueRose]

Last year this critter, I have named her Phyllis in efforts to keep me from wanting to kill her, ate my carrot tops and the leaves off my brussel sprouts. I covered the carrots with netting and that kept Phyllis from eating the carrots. The carrots were in a tiny space so it was easy to keep covered. This year I covered the beets and carrots too from the beginning to keep Phyllis away from this and she's stayed away.

This is the first year I planted a lot of lettuce. Last year I just did arugula which no one touched. My lettuce bed is about 20ft long and 2ft wide. Phylis didn't touch it for awhile and I thought I was home free, but I went out there and thinned the lettuce and then all of a sudden everything has been nibbled down overnight.

I DO have little cottontails but I've NEVER caught them or seen them in (or near) the garden - from my window or when I go out. I have seen Phyllis at it. I put some "DeFence" rabbit and deer repellent but apparently this does not deter Phyllis. My yard does have a 6ft fence around it, but there is space on the bottom so Phyllis can get in and out. There is a hole in the far corner where there's a brush pile but I'm 90% sure it isn't a burrow and just sort of a tunnel between the property. I remember seeing daylight before we started piling more brush there to try to block it. I usually see Phyllis going INTO that hole and never seen her coming out of it. I have seen her just run across the yard and go into the hole. I thought about putting a trap on the hole but she would see it since she goes INTO it and prob not go into it.

Anyway I don't want to TRAP her because I also have a skunk and I want to KEEP the skunk and don't want to hurt or trap the skunk. I can't shoot the groundhog because I'm in close range with other houses. (I have lost all compassion).

I'm going to try to get some repllents specifically for groundhogs, one of which is fox urine granules....if this doesn't work I guess I'm going to have to fence the lettuce.

[RogueRose]

I though about making some concoction too with some pepper and garlic to see if it will work with the groundhog. Another thing I thought is just taking everything all out and plant again interspaced with arugula since apparently they don't like arugula. Or make an arugula fence. It might be too late to plant lettuce.

I want to keep the skunk because skunks are mostly carnivores though they fall under omnivores. They can be beneficial - eat slugs, snails, rodents, lizards, birds, eggs, grubs, etc. I have never seen a mouse or rat around here and worry if I got rid of the skunk I might start seeing some!

[rainbowgardener]

Yup, I have a resident groundhog too. Quite a pest in the garden, but charming otherwise. Fencing is the best solution and deer netting is very easy to put up and take down and very cheap. It is sturdy enough to keep the groundhog out. Amusing sometimes to watch her trying and failing to get to the plants through the deer netting!

[RogueRose]

Ok I've noticed that Phyllis doesn't like arugula....however I DO so I think what I'm going to do is put in some arugula all the way around the lettuce and create an arugula "fence" - this should come up fairly quickly too since arugula seems to grow like a weed.

If this doesn't work - deer netting!

[HannahGrace]

I was bothered by a whole family of groundhogs last year! We managed to catch and remove all but one. That one is STILL here and STILL likes my garden! I've thought about giving it a name but it wouldn't be to make myself not want to kill the thing. I live with 8 other people (my family) in the house and we use the food. If that groundhog eats all of my plants then we aren't going to have the food we need. I called the city about getting a trap the other day but they were out so I'm supposed to call again on Monday and they said I'll get one. Good thing too. So far the only thing I've seen that it's eaten is the broccoli (which I THINK I can still get to grow) but if it gets anything else (last year it was my okra, green beans and anything it could find... except my tomatoes, thankfully.

[rainbowgardener]

Oh yeah... they LOVE broccoli!

I say again, deer netting!! Cheap and easy and keeps them away from what you don't want them to eat.

[HannahGrace]

The thing is, I want them to just stay away from my entire garden which, btw, isn't really a very small garden. Smaller than my family has had in the past but still fairly large. It would take a LOT of deer net. :-/

[rainbowgardener]

My garden is in separate beds, so I can just wrap in deer netting the beds with stuff they like, e.g. broccoli and tomatoes. I have a bed with peppers and basil that I don't wrap and the groundhog never bothers that. I have a bed with lettuce, spinach, chard that she also doesn't bother, strangely enough. I'm not sure if it's because it's right next to the stairs to the deck so too close to people, or if it's because there's onions and herbs mixed in with the lettuces.

[RogueRose]

Phillis has a new hole - she went around the big metal plate. I expected this. My ultrasonic thing I bought was too far to make noise. I put it closer.

The hole is definitely NOT the burrow hole. It goes under my yard fence and I can clearly see to the other side. It's about 2-3ft long...not even.

My current plan: dump all my kitty litter from 4 cats down the hole. I have an automatic litterbox that uses just plain bags so it'll be easy to dump large amounts of sifted litter down there.

I wonder if I can put some sort of fencing below the fence to block it completely. I REALLY wish that the neighbors would just do something about the hogs living under their shed.

[rainbowgardener]

The thing is groundhogs are REALLY good at burrowing. If you block one hole they will just dig another one. Their residence burrows always have several entrance/ exits.

I don't know if the critters are actually smarter than we are, but sometimes it feels like it. In the long run they usually win...

[applestar]

I'm mean to them. I stuff any freshly dug or regularly used hole full of thorny rose, blackberry and Greenbriar clippings....

[tomf]

Oh; it helps to burry some metal rabbit fence a foot or so into the ground.

[RogueRose]

My garden is kind of scattered in places throughout the area and some plots are in odd shapes so it'd be hard to deer fence it. I have some things covered like the carrots and beets, but not anything else. Carrots always seem the first to go.

I stuffed about 3lb of fresh kitty litter down the hole and I sprayed this AWFUL stuff that is for horses called "McNasty" - it is really is nasty. It's all natural I believe. Capsacin spray. You got to use a mask with this stuff because it tickles the nose and the throat. It's made to keep horses from chewing things. I've used it on keeping my cats away from certain areas. I'm hoping between the metal cover, the kitty litter, the Gaurdner, and this stuff she won't come in.

And if she does - I got PLENTY of kitty litter. I was reading that they are very fastidious creatures and they bury their waste. And if they come across a LOT of waste in one of their holes they'll abandon it. So I'm hoping super stinky pee and poo from 4 male cats will discourage them!

[treehopper]

Oh; it helps to burry some metal rabbit fence a foot or so into the ground.

...or get really good at trapping.

[rainbowgardener]

We have two ground hog threads going on right now. This one:

https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45372&start=30

is currently talking about trapping also.

[RogueRose]

Okay...................so I think I found a solution. However I am probably jinxing myself by posting this.

Let me preface by saying that my hole is *NOT* a burrow. It is just a little hole that goes under a PVC fence so he can get into my yard.

I started this thread so you've heard everything I tried. What's working now is KITTY LITTER! It has to be USED and the clumping kind and just can't just take a full litter box and dump it down the hole. Sift the litter, clean the litter box like you usually do. The more the better. Then dump the sifted litter down the hole. I put a heavy thing on top. It tried to go around it. I put more litter down it. It has yet to try make another hole. It's been a week or two. :::fingers crossed:::

Either way, I got PLENTY of used litter to stuff down future holes.

[mscratch]

I am sure I will regret this in the future but I was THRILLED to see a groundhog finally! we had moved around so much since husbands retirement it seems its been years since seeing local wildlife..recently moved back to a rural area and we have coyotes,squirrels,etc. hard to believe a person could miss those varmits..have seen alot of road kill armadilloes which I hope do not find us anytime soon.