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Groundhogs/woodchucks (NRR)

funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
edited July 2009 in Strut Central
Just discovered that we apparently have groundhogs living under the deck. I've heard that they can be physically destructive (gardens, burrowing etc) but I'm more worried about my kids getting bitten/attacked. Anyone have any experience with the varmint cong?I have an exterminator (live trapping) coming by later...

  Comments

  • UnherdUnherd 1,880 Posts
    I don't know about groundhogs, but my pops got bitten by a raccoon last summer, and those rabies shots are no joke. They don't go in the stomach anymore, but its like 2+ months of weekly shots that make you headachey and generally feel like ass.

    He saw this thing as he was grabbing some wood off the pile, they both froze, and then the thing came at him and bit him right in the leg. He fell, grabbed the little fucker and threw him backwards over his head 35 feet into the woods. The raccoon was stunned, then got up and ran off, but the fam was bugging for a minute. Be careful dude..
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    We actually had a raccoon come into the front yard while back but it wasn't acting strangely. We live fairly close to the water so we get raccoons and foxes now and then. The groundhog is acting pretty normally too. I was in the living room yesterday and my five year old is all "Daddy there's a beaver in the back yard!".
    I went out on the deck to shoo it away and it ran right back under the deck. I think he's also been rooting around in the garbage cans as well.
  • djdazedjdaze 3,099 Posts
    all I know is they found some prarie dogs out here with the f*cking plague...THE PLAGUE. I will shoot one of those beige little bastards on sight.
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    Groundhogs don't hurt nobody. I'd say you're overreacting, unless you want to preserve your garden or something. Hopefully the exterminator isn't going to kill it, because that seems excessive to me. Groundhogs suck at negotiating the road, so he/she will prolly get hit by a car someday and kick it.
  • funky16cornersfunky16corners 7,175 Posts
    Groundhogs don't hurt nobody. I'd say you're overreacting, unless you want to preserve your garden or something. Hopefully the exterminator isn't going to kill it, because that seems excessive to me. Groundhogs suck at negotiating the road, so he/she will prolly get hit by a car someday and kick it.

    If it was just my wife and I, I'd leave it unless it started f*cking with the house (they can undermine foundations). However I have two little kids, one of who is on the Autism spectrum and doesn't really "get" that you shouldn't approach wild animals. I'll go ahead and err on the side of caution and have the groundhog trapped (alive) and removed.
  • CousinLarryCousinLarry 4,618 Posts
    Just be glad it isn't skunks. My parents used to live on Martha's Vineyard and they have no natural predators there. Those things take over at night.

    The main skunk trapper on the island used to come into the bank to deposits sizable checks from clients. I asked him if he turned in the pelts for the reward, it was something like $50 a skunk, he said hell no. Instead he would just drop them back in the woods somewhere else. "why would I kill off my business, I make more off the rich folks who want them off their property."

    That dude smelled unspeakably bad and no amount of money would make me do a job like his.
  • The_NonThe_Non 5,691 Posts
    Groundhogs don't hurt nobody. I'd say you're overreacting, unless you want to preserve your garden or something. Hopefully the exterminator isn't going to kill it, because that seems excessive to me. Groundhogs suck at negotiating the road, so he/she will prolly get hit by a car someday and kick it.

    If it was just my wife and I, I'd leave it unless it started f*cking with the house (they can undermine foundations). However I have two little kids, one of who is on the Autism spectrum and doesn't really "get" that you shouldn't approach wild animals. I'll go ahead and err on the side of caution and have the groundhog trapped (alive) and removed.

    Understandable. I just don't think your kids could catch even if they wanted to. Tip o the cap tho.
  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I've had raccoon problems ever since the pond went in.

    I battled them for years.

    I used to keep a bucket of rocks by the bed and throw rocks at them. They never seemed to care.
    One day there was one right out the window.
    I nailed him square in the side.
    He stopped, looked over his shoulder at me, hissed, turned around, strolled on.
    I quit bothering them for a few years.

    This summer one came in the window we leave open for the cat, walked past the dog, into the basement and tore into all the animal food.
    I decided it was time for it to go.

    Did a little reading.
    Learned Raccoon deterrents, noise, lights, dogs... None of them work for long.
    Learned that most raccoons can only be trapped once.
    After that they are trap shy.
    You must release them at least 15 miles from the nearest house.

    I couldn't trap mine.

    The window stays closed and the cat stays inside.

    Groundhogs are good luck.
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