now that a greedy little whistle pig has moved into my neighborhood and practically rolled in my marigolds like it was chucknip, it seems like it was so much easier with the deer.. at least there was a deer spray i could effectively use.

can anybody tell me anything that might work with a groundhog? he's destroyed quite a few plants, and everything i've read about him only points to a worse future. i don't want to kill him - he is just being a groundhog and i personally feel it would be hypocritical of me to kill an animal just because he eats something i like to look at - i don't have vegetables, i just garden for flowers. i just want to either convince him to stick to a diet of clover and broadleafs -- or it's relo package for him.

i cannot fence my yard. i've tried sprays containing cinnamon oil, clover oil, eggs, pepper. tried urine (kindly donated by DH) to no avail. tried gum - oh he eats the gum, and just so you know, he prefers the fruity flavors and turns up his nose to the mint flavors.. but honestly i am afraid to use too much (imho gum can "gum" up a human system as much as a rodent's -- i should know, i had my stomach pumped as a kid -- and i'm not into inhumane methods). so here i am at a loss..

i've read about sprays with castor bean oil but never tried it, haven't read anywhere that it works.. anybody tried it?

so while i wait for your response, i have a little respite. dopey little thing walked right into my garage the other day and we had a good 1/2 workout in there before he found his way out. haven't seen him in days..

so please, help me help him! (i'm thinking if i ever do have to trap and release him, i will feel so bad, i will probably go back and leave him an apple every week as compensation)

p.s., will post this in the IPM forum too..

You could pay someone to trap it and take it away. In your phone book under pest control.

Good luck! We have one too. Between the deer, the groundhogs and the japanese beetles it sometimes makes me wonder why I bother!

NJ Trapping Illegal?

he's already dug a cozy little home under my neighbor's shed - boy aren't they thrilled about that.

A "Godfather" touch - I think the groundhog got the message.

well birdgardener i can't help but chuckle at your solution. unfortunately or happily for me, no squished rodents within a 100 foot radius of our house! i'll keep that ammonia suggestion in my mind. if we don't end up trapping and relocating them all, or don't succeed in blocking the entry under the shed, then we might have to use one of your unpleasant pour-in-the-whole ideas to at least drive them away somewhere slightly farther away.

after all, there is a wilderness area just a 2 minute walk from our house, but NOOOOO they couldn't go live there in peace..

i'm trying to find a local source for a havahart trap. any ideas where in NJ i can buy one? or even borrow one?

i just saw one ambling thru my yard yesterday, and another one having a good ol' time in my neighbor's annual bed today. time for them to go..

Both Home Depot and Lowe’s sells them, when they have them in stock, in a couple of sizes, you need the larger one which is usually the collapsible model.

I did a lot of research last year when we had the problem, and this was the only solution that worked--and they haven't come back.

Good luck to you.

but poor thing looked so scared, and he pooped himself and really smelled, i actually felt really sorry for him when DH and I found him..

bagged him up cage and all and released him couple miles from here on state lands on the other side of the river. and boy was he glad to run out. hope he found some shelter from the rain today..

one down, 2 more to go..

They always smell, even unpooped, you'll soon notice a small population of flies they seem to carry with them.

Congratulations.

The dislike of mint flavor gum might tell you something--try planting mint -- in pots---it is almost as invasive as groundhogs.

We have had good luck with properly aged human urine as a deer repellant. I would do just as haneen suggests--and as other animals do if you think about it--and pour some into the entrance of the burrow, every few days. My husband provides the supply & we age it in milk jugs. Ewww, but quite effective. We opt for male urine as it probably has that testosterone bouquet which mine would lack.