Groundhogs

[phylodog]

Ugh. We've suspected a larger critter inhabiting our horse barn and I finally got confirmation this morning. Came out the side door of the barn and caught a glimpse of something sizable darting under the barn. Knelt down and looked through some weeds and it was standing there lookin at me.

Time to put together a plan. It's not a very large one so I'm hoping it's not one of a litter born this spring, I'd think we'd have more evidence if there were several around. I've killed many over the years but they've all be targets of opportunity at shooting ranges. This is the first time I've had one invade the perimeter on me so it'll be an active hunt.

Any tips appreciated.

 

[Rookie]

Bait pile with a motion detector. I use tomatoes and this motion detector. There's options to get one detector which is a lot cheaper.

Amazon product ASIN B07PSKCQ1X

 

[Nazgul]

We have trapped 3 of them from under our shed behind the house. They dig and undermine the blocks.

Use a cheap live trap , baited with apples. They go to the farm and get dispatched.

Caught a possum. He gets relocated and released. They eat tics/bugs.

Don

 

[AndreusMaximus]

I've not had a lot of experience with groundhogs, but I did recently kill one that was burrowing under the pole barn by our house. He was always poking around close to his burrow in the evenings around 6-7 pm, and also in the morning around 9 am or so. I started taking my 22 rifle out with me around those times, and within a couple days I spotted him again. He saw me first, though, and made a rush for his hole, but stopped just inside of it, watching me curiously. That was his final mistake.

If you decide to trap them, my brother who has caught several says they generally won't go into a dead end, so he always uses one of those live traps has door on both ends, putting it over the entrance to their burrow, using cinder blocks to hold it in place.

 

[bwframe]

If you find the hole, work on your whistle. Often you can whistle them out to see whose talking to them.


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