My goodness, Jenny! I remember a groundhog who liked the shrubery of my house in town in VT but I have never heard of one as "outgoing" as yours. I did a search on "groundhog control" as I'm sure you did but it sounds like you need to bring out the big guns. I have no particular experience but I know what I would do if I were in your position. I would call the local wildlife rescue center and start there for referrals on how to be rid of this creature. If that didn't work I think I might actually bomb it's holes--it sounds like your gardens are all but gone?

Here is a link that might be useful: Just one of many groundhog control pages I found...good luck!

Well that groundhog has the personality of any other resident in NJ now doesn't it. Just kidding.
Here's my 2 cents worth in terms of choices:
1. Get a large dog
2. Adopt the old adage: If you can't beat them, join them. Seems this guy has no fear of humans, so maybe he wants to be your pet? I have heard of people who have dear problems beginning to feed them so that the deer would not eat their flowers and plants.

I once had a big mother 'chuck in my garden who was not afraid of me. One morning before 6am I was woken up by the sounds of loud - I mean *LOUD* lip-smacking sounds. I look out the window, and there is the woodchuck and 3 babies munching on my bachelors buttons. They ate the flower heads off each plant, leaving a bare "headless" stalk. Grrrr.

She also marched right up the front steps and ate roses and other flowers off my porch plants. Brazen hussey.

I moved the container plants onto pedestals, which was the only thing that worked since woodchucks are excellent climbers. The plant stands were too slippery, thank goodness.

The bachelors buttons got replaced by less tasty plants.

Thanks all for the suggestions. While I still have flowers left, I will call the local animal rescue group, although I have a feeling there's lots more where this one came from! You can see them out in force along the local highways late in the afternoon. This one seems to be up with the sun and ready to graze all day. I can't find any holes dug under anything, so can't try to discourage it that way. It may be making the rounds of the neighborhood and snacking on it's favorites along the way.

Sorry, but I don't wan't either a dog, or a groundhog for a pet! :) I have samll children and I actually worry that if cornered this possible "mom-to-be" might turn on them.

And this coming right up on the doorstep doesn't thrill me. Suppose it decides to come in for "tea"? It really stands it's "ground" when you confront it with a mouth full of pretty pansies. Now, it's just not right to eat my favorite spring flowers!

I'll be sure to keep you all posted on what happens next.

Thanks again! Jenny

Holy cow! That is strange.... I was listening to some archives of "You bet your garden" and they addressed the groundhog problem. Go to Youbetyourgarden.org and listen to the archive from 3/12/05. The questions of the week, which is the section that deals with the groundhogs, is usually near the end of the show. I'd tell you what he said, but I was listening at work and must have gotten distracted! Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: You bet your garden archive

Groundhogs can be tough.

Please don't follow the earlier posted advice here and try to feed them, that will only make the problem worse.

Fox or Coyote Urine, Mothballs, Ultrasonic Sound Emitters, they won't work.

Strong fences or tough dogs will.

Another good option is to hire a professional groundhog control trapper. Here is a list for groundhogs:

Here is a link that might be useful: Professional Groundhog Trapping

I don't know about groundhogs but I have started to spray everything with hot pepper spray as the bunnies were eating everything in sight. I normally have issues with groundhogs also and knock on wood sofar everything is good. I have also sprayed the fence line hoping just the smell will stop them from coming in the garden.
Sandy

Thank you all for your good suggestions, Since I last posted, I've been "under the weather", or more accurately.."UNDER THE POLLEN"!! I've suffered from the worst allergies I've ever had! It seems a lot better since the rain, so I'll be out working to catch up with the garden, just as soon as the rain stops!

Now, back to the groundhog. My husband spoke to some people and we decided to get a Hav-a-hart trap, bait it with an irresistible sliced apple and wait. It didn't take long, by the next morning, there he/she was nosing around the side of the trap, trying to get the apple out. It finally went in and the door closed. My husband then immediately transported the "beast" to the mountains far from any other homes where I'm sure it's happily devouring the entire forest as we speak!!

Hopefully, it will be happy there and forget where I live!

Thanks again for your interest and help....Jenny

Hmmm, I've tried the Havahart trap and all I caught were squirrels. I bet the fella is on to me. He chomped the most bizarre selection of plants this year... achillea? hibiscus? weird.

There's a farmer's field behind our property and to the left of that field is a city owned cemetery. The groundhogs were so bad in my backyard that I stopped gardening entirely. Well, I guess they decided that my backyard eating wasn't enough to fill them up so they moved to the cemetery and started, you guessed it, digging up the graves. Well it didn't take long for the city to act (when I called, I got the same old story, try a trap)and they sent out some people to smoke bomb the holes. Now we have no groundhogs.

From what I've now learned, there are several different sizes of Hav-a-hart traps. The smaller one for squirrels would be baited with peanuts, though that could attract almost any animal, I would think.

The one we used was sized for groundhogs and possibly raccoons. Supposedly, a groundhog cannot resist a fresly quartered apple. It worked out for us and so quicky too! To catch a raccoon, you would bait the trap with a piece of cooked chicken. That worked for someone we spoke too, but his cat was also attracted to the bait and went in the trap as soon as they set it out! They had barely walked 10' away when they heard it close! The cat had to be kept inside the house until the raccoon, who was preparing a lovely nest in their chimmney, was caught later that same evening.

Timing seems to be very important. You need to set the trap when the animal is most likely to be out for a meal. We heard another story from a guy, who wound up catching a skunk because he forgot to close the trap before dark. He had quite an unpleasant surprise the next morning and had to make a call for professional help!

I'm still afraid "it" will find it's way back, so I'm always looking for any sign of "it". Just about a week ago, driving home and only a few blocks from my house, I saw a groundhog actually going up the front stairs of a house to the big porch! That really got me nervous!

Jenny

As you can tell by my username I also had a bad ground hog problem and I have had to resort to trapping them with havaheart traps. I also bait mine with apples! Sometimes it takes a few days to catch them but I usually catch them. The thing is there are new ones each Spring and Fall so be prepared to keep on trapping as new ones come along. If you don't you won't be able to garden at all! Right now I am ground hog free but I bet the new babies are growing and in the Fall I'll have to get out the trap again. Congratulations on your new status as a ground hog trapper!!

Hi ghoghunter,

Thanks for the warning about the fall "crop" of THEM! I'm still looking over my shoulder everytime I go outside and I won't let my guard down!

Also, I'm going to add "ground hog trapper" to my resume! :)

Jenny

Recommending that someone get a dog simply to chase groundhogs is unfair to both the dog and usually fatal to the groundhog. A dog is not a pest exterminator, although they will deter groundhogs and rabbits from entering a fenced property. With an unfenced property it's likely that if you let a dog run loose you will have the neighbors calling and complaining, the dog digging UP your garden you are trying to protect (digging is instinctual) and possibly face animal control 'dog at large' charges and fines. Dogs can get all kinds of diseases from catching wild prey and they often end up hurt themselves. We have an old saying in the dog training world: "A loose dog is a dead dog." I don't know who to give credit for that one, but it's absolutely true. Finally dogs do not want to be left alone outside to be your extermination team. And wild creatures do not recognize property lines unless in imminent danger. Only then do they leave temporarily.
I admit, groundhogs are huge problem. But getting a dog, particularly if you don't have a fenced in property is a poor suggestion.

Here is a link that might be useful: My Name Is Sam

try some dried blood bubble gum a big dog live trapping whatever but if it has babies your screwed

My husband suggested that we pour gasoline down the hole and light it. Has anyone tried that?

We are losing a lovely crop of canteloupe.... Before the fruits were eating size, the hog(s?) were pruning my sunflowers and snacking on tomatoes!

Put USED, clumping cat litter down the groundhog hole to encourage it to find another home. They are repulsed by cat urine (aren't we all!). I volunteer at a wildlife rescue center and my boss says this works.

Hire a Rodenator operator. He will pump a gaseous mix into the hole and create a underground gas expansion. (i.e., explosion, contained.) Instant dead groundhog. Or, get a small .22 caliber rifle and use CB shells. They are very quiet sounding, almost cap gun like. Get the hog 'tween the eyes. Your neighbors will never hear it. Bury the critter. Your neighbors will probably be glad you did it, as well.

When it comes to gardens and animals, the animals have to go. The dedder the bedder. Besides, groundhogs are major terror around buildings and great for broken legs and damaged farm equipment. They are also great for the horse lovers.

Skip the sprays, smoke bombs, pellets, etc. Mfgs are just scamming you. Especially that ultrasonic garbage.

Another idea that would be good, and I would like to find a machinist for this, would be to construct and 3 inch pipe and chamber it for a .410 shotgun shell. Attach a firing mechanism to a battery-operated motion sensor and aim it down the groundhog hole. When the hog comes up, it is eliminated. Of course, this could not be used in an urban setting.

I came home from a two-week vacation in Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to discover that a groundhog had eaten much of my garden. The string beans were about two inches high and the okra about five inches. The groundhog had eaten much of the squash.

If one groundhog could do this much damage, I worried what would happen if others took up residence near my home. This one had dug his home within a few feet of my house.

Once I knew where he lived, I kept watch for when he was outside. When I spotted him, I stood on my deck and shot him with a 22 rifle. One shot was all it took and that solved the problem unless others show up.

Capturing the animal and releasing him far from home is not the answer. Someone else has a home there and why should they put up with my problem?

If I had not gotten rid of him, eventually his den would have wrapped around the corner of my home and endangered the foundation.

This was more than an animal rights issue. This could have destroyed my yard and damaged my home. The groundhog had to go.

I can hardly believe some of the ignorance [as in, just not knowing] I have just read here. And some good advice also.
One groundhog does not threaten a garden, and a house foundation??? baloney and I mean baloney big time.] and yes I am a contractor and a union carpenter] However a groundhog, rabbits, squirrels,skunks, deer, insects,slugs, voles, moles and mice to name a few, working different "shifts" will do damage to your plants. Too bad all the hybrids and use of pesticides that threw the natural balance of nature all out of wack.
Apples are good for trapping, truth be told, they prefer bananas. Natural foods are dandelions, timothy, plantain, stuff you don't want in your yard or garden anyway. yes they climb trees for fruit and to survey their surroundings.
Fact is , they dig about 5 feet down with an escape tunnel or two, you see more than that, you have many. Usually one clean hole about 5-6 inches in diameter is all you will find, till the winter, when they will most likely go to the woods to dig hibernation dens anyway. They will move some serious dirt around then.
I discouraged one by simply putting some sticks and a rock over the hole. He left, but I found an orphan little while later, and now I got one anyway. He pretty much steers clear of the garden, not real sure why.
Shooting groundhogs, ok, if your not close to any neighbors,as in a city, a 22 can go well over a mile, gasoline in the hole???, and you were thinking of going green, wth, are you serious, that's just stupid, I actually know a guy that heaved the pavement up in the rd pouring gas into a ditch that went under the rd and lighting it. Haveahart or animal control,"(yeah, the latter prolly won't do anything], actually make sense, and yes, there are areas that they will not "harm" anything and can carry out their part of the eco system without the ignorance of man interrupting. Oh, you mean they were put here for a reason other than to annoy tomatoes growers. Imagine that.
Yes, meat fed fox urine smells real real bad, talking drops here, funny thing about that, "oh, did I mention fox's like a variety of veggies and fruits also>, anytime I ever went hunting and used it as a cover scent, guess what followed my trail later that evening, yep, a fox.
Now, I have nothing against fox, but you really want one hanging around your place, they have been known to carry rabies, as can coyotes, yeah, they like veggies too. Oh and raccoons. Course, a lot of these guys don't come out til dark, so you don't see them, but blame it on the solitary groundhog. There are ppl in this area don't even know deer visit their gardens at night, just weird .
Now, addressing Jenny, groundhogs don't have that large of a territory, and if it was moved away, it will not come back, sure it's happy where it is, your solution was the right solution, good job

and a house foundation???

Um... I've seen photos of houses undermined by groundhogs, and yes, they can undermine a house foundation enough to cause damage.

I'm not going to comment on control methods; I'll leave that up to the rest of you.

well the only nuisence G'hog i had had babies and the 308 left nothing but a stain on the ground from mom and 2/3 babies i suspect the last was eaten, died or ran for its life .. but needless to say not seen any others.
Ps shooting a 308 from a open door hurts your ears seriously use ear protection or step slowly from the door

at work now shotting a total of 26 groundhogs with my trusty browning m1a .308 what a blast!!! ...does anyone in Virginia need rodent removal? let me know thanks