I couldn't agree more! Coming home from a weekend get away only to find weeks worth of work turned into 'hog chow gives new meaning to terminate with EXTREME prejudice!jal_ut wrote:I am sorry folks, but varmints must go.
https://www.flemingtraps.com/?gclid=CI7cn7qYurECFUkbQgod7mYAig
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treehopper
- Senior Member
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:43 pm
- Location: Southeast MI
Exactly. If I could shoot them I would. First off you got to get a permit for EVERYTHING here, even a pellet/BB gun. And second, where I am I am so close to other houses, I can't really safely shoot anything. I thought about a bow and arrow, but not quite sure how effective that'd be. You don't need a permit to own a bow and arrow in NJ, but you DO need one to hunt. But I will be killing, not hunting.applestar wrote:Thanks for your recommendations, James... But we ARE talking NJ here.
It's illegal to relocate here, so you'd have to shoot. IF I were to trap, I'd have to use a have-a-heart then transport the offender to my friend's farm where I keep my horses and HE will have to shoot it. The goundhog would be pissed as hell being in a cage and would probably trying to kill me through the cage and be pissing ans crapping himself - not something I want in my car. The BEST trap out there is the "Duke's Body Trap" But you have to put that in the way of a hole or a trail - neither of which I have.SOB wrote:I would like to add that if you go the route of trapping them (which I think was mentioned earlier) to find out what your local and state laws are. I just read that in Ohio if we are to trap nuisance animals (groundhog, skunk, etc) that we can do so on our own property with no permits but we are not allowed to release them anywhere else than the property where they were trapped. The only method of getting rid of them is to properly euthanize them which there are also laws and methods of doing so.
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
Critters often use the same trails day after day. You may also be able to bait them with some tasty goodies. The body trap can be set over a shallow depression. You only need enough room for the trigger to be activated should a critter step on it. When set flat like that they spring upwards forcefully, and will get the critter. Especially if you use the large one. My gosh those things are powerful. Don't set one where any children may go.The BEST trap out there is the "Duke's Body Trap" But you have to put that in the way of a hole or a trail - neither of which I have.
I use a #3 foot trap for skunks. This would be the right size for groundhogs. You can dispatch them with a club. You probably can't use a foot trap?
No, I don't dispatch skunks with a club. I lead them over to the canal and drown them.
They don't spray when doing this.-
jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
How about a deadfall? You use a figure 4 trigger made from just plain sticks. Its an old technique for those who had no other options, like steel traps.
https://www.google.com/search?q=deadfal ... 80&bih=904
https://www.google.com/search?q=deadfal ... 80&bih=904
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cuttingedge
- Full Member
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- Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 6:06 pm
- Location: Northern NJ Zone 6A
So I guess using my AR15 to take care of ground hogs would be frowned upon? I am a proud member of the NRA but that won't change the laws. Moving might be an option in the future, but for now I trapped the one that got into my garden and relocated him to a safe place far away. I know that relocating is a No-No but I did not want to go to jail for discharging a firearm. I also surrounded my garden with 3' high chicken wire and buried it a foot deep.
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applestar
- Mod
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I'm willing to share if the groundHOG will stick to the basic menu and not go after too many of the premium stuff. So far, this has worked for me from year to year.
There are absolutely plenty of weeds. And actually this one has been unassuming so far....
Yesterday, it raided the compost bin again. Right now, I ony have stuff in the plastic bin since I've been using up the finished compost in the open piles and haven't had the chance to turn the bin contents and start a new pile. I left the lid open overnight after throwing on a poncho and running out in a deluge to open it so the bin can get thoroughly watered by the rare rainstorm we had the other day.
Then later on, I was incensed to see it INSIDE the fenced Kitchen Garden, which is in serious need of weeding and clean up, then fall planting. It was right near the cucumber trellis. I chased it off, but when I checked, it had not touched the late planted cucumber vines nor the tiny baby cucumbers but had been pushing its way through the weeds. (Maybe I have an assistant gardener....
)
But I did find out how it's been getting in. I guess I WAS successful in building/shoring up the temporary fence, so it dug under the shed and then opened up an exit/entry hole on THIS side of the fence.
This is bad because that means it has probably settled into a summer home under the shed (as usual). I had thought I'd completely blocked the base of the shed on the other side of the fence, but... Apparently not.
There are absolutely plenty of weeds. And actually this one has been unassuming so far....
Yesterday, it raided the compost bin again. Right now, I ony have stuff in the plastic bin since I've been using up the finished compost in the open piles and haven't had the chance to turn the bin contents and start a new pile. I left the lid open overnight after throwing on a poncho and running out in a deluge to open it so the bin can get thoroughly watered by the rare rainstorm we had the other day.
Then later on, I was incensed to see it INSIDE the fenced Kitchen Garden, which is in serious need of weeding and clean up, then fall planting. It was right near the cucumber trellis. I chased it off, but when I checked, it had not touched the late planted cucumber vines nor the tiny baby cucumbers but had been pushing its way through the weeds. (Maybe I have an assistant gardener....
)But I did find out how it's been getting in. I guess I WAS successful in building/shoring up the temporary fence, so it dug under the shed and then opened up an exit/entry hole on THIS side of the fence.
This is bad because that means it has probably settled into a summer home under the shed (as usual). I had thought I'd completely blocked the base of the shed on the other side of the fence, but... Apparently not.
https://helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37531-
treehopper
- Senior Member
- Posts: 103
- Joined: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:43 pm
- Location: Southeast MI
Wellllll no new report really. I got some 'prairie dog pellets" which are really more like "prairie dog bricks" that I pot out. Someone did eat a whole one. I found a dead mouse. I did find a honeydew with some nibbles in it a couple days ago but no new nibbles. I DID see the younger goundhog today but when I went to get a closer look at him out the backdoor he had already booked it. I have this thing that I omits a noise and sprays water when it senses movement. It is already out of water and it didn't take long. So there's been groundHOGs around. I have yet to try the cantaloupe with the golden Malrin mashed in it. I had some family members with a dog over this weekend so I didn't want to put any more poison out.
Oi...........my neighbor came over yesterday very upset (she's older - in her 80s) that she found a dead mouse and another elderly neighbor (also in her 80s) a dead squirrel. Apparently they were getting in my groundhog cocktail. I had told her that I was going to use the cocktail and she was concerned that she hoped the groundhogs "wouldn't suffer" to which I replied "I hope they do" as they have caused so ME so much suffering. Anyway, all cocktails have been removed as I don't want to give my elderly neighbors heart attacks because the vermin are dying. I got some super stinky mothballs to put around my garden, which I doubt will work, but the melons are almost done....so as long as I can keep the hogs away for another couple weeks I should be in the clear. Any fall planting (lettuce) I'm going to put in pots or planters which I can put up high.
Unfortunately, here shooting is not an option. I'm about 30ft from other houses. I have nothing against killing things that have a) ruined my hard work, b) attacked me.estorms wrote:The only way to get rid of a groundhog is to shoot it. I have never had a repeat offender. I hate to kill things but they will eat everything you have and ruin the rest. By the time you can catch one in a have a heart trap, your garden and all your work is ruined.