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Woodchucks or groundhogs can greatly damage a garden.
How to Prevent Groundhogs from Invading Your Garden
Do you have trouble with these burrowing pests? Here are tips for identifying and getting rid of groundhogs in your yard and garden.
What Are Groundhogs?
If every day is Groundhog Day in your garden, you’ll probably agree with those who call that gluttonous rodent their least favorite backyard creature. Even skunks get more respect. Speaking of Groundhog Day, find out the origins of that funny holiday.
The problem is that groundhogs—also known as woodchucks or whistle-pigs—are binge eaters who can wipe out your vegetable garden in a matter of minutes. They climb, they burrow, they swim, and they eat—an adult consumes about a pound to a pound-and-a-half of vegetation daily. Between spring and fall, they double their body weight.
Do Groundhogs Hibernate?
Yes, they do! Soon after they emerge from a winter’s hibernation, they mate, giving birth in mid-spring—at a time when the pickings are at their slimmest. Neat rows of seedlings must look like manna from heaven to hungry groundhogs, who sometimes perch on garden fence posts as if they are looking over the salad bar.
When hibernating, groundhogs—who are never speedy—really slow down, drawing a breath only about once every 5 minutes. Hibernation is curious behavior: Barely breathing, these mammals cool off to just a few degrees above the ambient temperature, sometimes as low as 39º to 40ºF. Their metabolic rate drops, and they sleep profoundly in their winter dens, neither eating nor drinking for 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 months, drawing all their nourishment from the body fat they accumulated during the summer. No wonder they eat so much!
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Identification
How to Identify Groundhogs
Members of the squirrel family, groundhogs are squarish, stocky animals that typically weigh between 4 and 14 pounds. They have short, strong legs, coarse, grizzled, gray-brown fur, small ears, a short, bushy tail, and curved claws. Groundhogs look a bit like runaway fur coats as they waddle back to their burrows. This critter can grow to be about 3 feet long. They have large, competent, chisel-like teeth that make them efficient but not quite endearing.
Are you wondering where groundhogs live? Do you see any deep tunnels in your yard, under your deck, or near your foundation? You may have a groundhog. Groundhogs dig burrows to live in, and the entrances are usually 10 to 12 inches wide, with the excavated soil spread around them. There are usually two or three entrances.
Groundhog Damage
What do groundhogs eat? Everything from flowers to vegetables. Favorite foods include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lettuce, broccoli, plantain, and soybeans. Groundhogs will often devour your seedlings before they even have time to grow. Rabbits and deer eat some of the same plants, so make sure to check for burrows before concluding that you have groundhogs. If you don’t have vegetables around, groundhogs will settle for twigs, bark, bugs, and blossoms.
Groundhogs eat mostly during the early morning and afternoon, so try to see when your garden is receiving the most damage. These creatures will also gnaw and claw at fruit trees, so check your trees for any such marks.
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It is possible in certain cases for a groundhog tunnel to undermine a foundation and/or cause cracks. You might want to try repelling the groundhog, to encourage it to find a home elsewhere. You can try sprinkling dried fox or coyote urine (available at garden centers or online) around the hole. Or, try motion-detector sprinklers (also available at garden centers or online) or pinwheels around the entrance. You can also try filling the hole with dirt; each time the animal may reopen it (or one nearby), but might eventually give up and move on. Usually there is at least one other entrance or exit hole, so try to find that one too (tunnels can extend 25 to 40 feet). As a last resort, you can hire an animal pest control expert to live trap it and remove it from your home. (Laws vary in cities and states as to doing this on your own; always use caution when dealing with a wild animal.)
A mesh fence buried a foot deep really is the best solution, but there are other options. Readers have told us that they've had luck with electric fencing. Have you tried the solutions above? Many of them are safe for chickens. Try planting a line of garlic near the entrance. Also, try spreading Grapefruit-sized clumps of dog and/or cat hair throughout planted areas. A dog or two would also help the situation. Best of luck!
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