I did a search but haven't found much on effective ways of getting rid of groundhogs. Not an option to "let them be" approach as they are burrowing under my barn and trying to burrow under my house. I will not let them destroy my buildings. I've been able to shoot a couple but wondering if there is a way that will rid them without having to stand guard with gun in hand 24 hours a day?
Groundhog problem
- Thread starter moto367
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kd3pc
Well-known member
sturdy dog or .223 are the only sure ways.
they are a lot more survivalist than they used to be. At least you don't have beaver.
best of luck, you may run in to issues with your city or county about using either to eradicate them, but those who say live and let live, have never had groundhogs.
They will only get worse if left alone. My in-laws left their place vacant for almost three years and the groundhogs had moved all the way in, under the sheds, under the deck, around the pond (yes they do swim) and along the foundation of the house. They had gotten quite bold by then.
When they lived there a golden kept them at bay
they are a lot more survivalist than they used to be. At least you don't have beaver.
best of luck, you may run in to issues with your city or county about using either to eradicate them, but those who say live and let live, have never had groundhogs.
They will only get worse if left alone. My in-laws left their place vacant for almost three years and the groundhogs had moved all the way in, under the sheds, under the deck, around the pond (yes they do swim) and along the foundation of the house. They had gotten quite bold by then.
When they lived there a golden kept them at bay
astroracer
Well-known member
Do you have pets? Cats? Dogs? We have intermittent problems with them and found dropping cat and dog **** down in their burrows will drive them out. I have also poured ammonia in the burrows, that will drive them out too. It usually only takes a few days of this and they will leave for better smelling pastures... 
Mark
Mark
Bondo
Well-known member
Ayuh,.... Leave some De-con rat baits out where they can find 'em,....
Woodchucks have No problem eatin' grain,....
Jimmies63
Well-known member
Ingredients:
Hav-a-hart medium size live trap.
Wheel barrow full of water.
Heavy duty husky garbage bag.
1. Bait trap with peanut butter (or similar)
2. Place near hole. Wait for loud rattling.
3. Place live trap with ground hog in wheelbarrow. Wait till motionless.
4. Put groundhog in garbage bag, tie tight, throw in trash.
5. Re-bait, repeat.
Notes:
- don't do it with kids watching - freaks them out.
- don't do it with tree huggers watching, they'll find some law you are breaking and turn you in.
- works for squirrels, raccoons, other vermin.
Hav-a-hart medium size live trap.
Wheel barrow full of water.
Heavy duty husky garbage bag.
1. Bait trap with peanut butter (or similar)
2. Place near hole. Wait for loud rattling.
3. Place live trap with ground hog in wheelbarrow. Wait till motionless.
4. Put groundhog in garbage bag, tie tight, throw in trash.
5. Re-bait, repeat.
Notes:
- don't do it with kids watching - freaks them out.
- don't do it with tree huggers watching, they'll find some law you are breaking and turn you in.
- works for squirrels, raccoons, other vermin.
CheckeredFlag
Well-known member
toss gas cartridges into the groundhogs' burrows
rburke65
Well-known member
Shoot them, a good dog, tramp them and then gas them.
Elvenhome21
Well-known member
Flood every hole you see with water and shovel some dirt over the hole and stomp it down.
oh yeah?
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kd3pc
Well-known member
I would not have a yard left using that.!!...kind of like the old fashioned way of an M-80 on a broom stick or a few blasting caps (back when you could get them) strung down the hole.
When we moved to our property a couple years ago, it had not been taken care of for quite a long time and was pretty much over run with ground squirrels. I have neighbors close by. I use a good quality air rifle, in my case a Feinwerkbau 124, and that over time has effectively done the job. I'd recommend www.straightshooters.com for info on quality air rifles. While I am shooting a .177 I'd go with a .20 or .22 caliber.
By the time I've classified something as a pest I do not "have a heart"
By the time I've classified something as a pest I do not "have a heart"
Streetbu
Well-known member
Shoot em! Had the same issue at our house, took me 2 years to finally get them all but they havent been back for 5 years now...
Autorotica
Well-known member
We have chased them out by dumping used cat litter down their holes. They move right out quick. Normally only takes one application per hole!
Chris
Chris
sz0k30
Well-known member
NO there isn't.
One summer about 10 years ago between my neighbor and myself we killed 52. He got 27 and I got 25. A .22 LR is marginal, some just bounce off. A.22 Mag works best.
acmikee
Well-known member
go fishing. then stick the heads and guts in their holes. they don't like the smell and will go next door.
I don't know if just any dog will work, but the right one will. The back of our yard abuts a wooded area so we used to get groundhogs fairly often. Our previous dog, a Lab, didn't seem to scare them off but Zena, the dog we have now does. She killed a big one a couple years ago and word must have spread through groundhogdom because I haven't seen one in the yard since, nor are there any holes.
Zena is a pit mix and I think the terrier breeds have an inborn desire to eradicate pests. It's strange that she gets along just fine with our cats, but let her catch a squirrel, rabbit or groundhog and she will kill it.
Zena is a pit mix and I think the terrier breeds have an inborn desire to eradicate pests. It's strange that she gets along just fine with our cats, but let her catch a squirrel, rabbit or groundhog and she will kill it.
MScott
Well-known member
Half a cup of gasoline; toss it as far down the hole as you can; wait several minutes for the fumes to completely fill the burrow, then toss a match in the hole. Concussion knocks out the groundhog and consumes all the oxygen so it dies without waking. Fill in the hole and you are done. Have done this many times.
red
Well-known member
Milky spore disease it will kill their food source which is grubs. Put it down once and your done. The groundhogs are there for a reason. Used to have a big problem at my dad's house which was across from a lake, until we used the milky spore.
BTW we had a Shepard which was free to roam the yard cause we had trained her to remain on the property. She almost did as much damage digging trying to get the buggers!
BTW we had a Shepard which was free to roam the yard cause we had trained her to remain on the property. She almost did as much damage digging trying to get the buggers!
sbosecker
Well-known member
I grew up on a melon farm in southwestern Indiana. Groundhogs were Public Enemy #1.
Dad had some sort of powder in a sealed can - maybe a cyanide based product - that he would use on the groundhogs. He had a tablespoon duct-taped to a long stick. Using that tool, he'd scoop up a heaping spoon full and put the spoon as far down the groundhog hole as possible. Then he'd shove a paper fertilizer sack into the hole and cover the hole with dirt. The sack was to prevent the poison from getting covered up by the dirt. The vapor from the powder - it smelled evil - apparently would fill the burrow and do in the oversized rodents.
I'll try to find out from dad what that powder was but I think this method worked pretty well on the known burrows.
Best regards,
Scott
Dad had some sort of powder in a sealed can - maybe a cyanide based product - that he would use on the groundhogs. He had a tablespoon duct-taped to a long stick. Using that tool, he'd scoop up a heaping spoon full and put the spoon as far down the groundhog hole as possible. Then he'd shove a paper fertilizer sack into the hole and cover the hole with dirt. The sack was to prevent the poison from getting covered up by the dirt. The vapor from the powder - it smelled evil - apparently would fill the burrow and do in the oversized rodents.
I'll try to find out from dad what that powder was but I think this method worked pretty well on the known burrows.
Best regards,
Scott
sbosecker
Well-known member
Well I just got off the phone with my dad (83 years old) and he doesn't remember what the stuff was called. However, he was pretty sure it's no longer available (outlawed) so I guess the name really doesn't matter.
You might talk to the County Extension Agent in your area and see what they recommend.
Best regards,
Scott
You might talk to the County Extension Agent in your area and see what they recommend.
Best regards,
Scott
They eat more than grubs, they'll play heck on a soybean field.
Leave a radio playing in the barn, it's been working for my step-dad. One other thing that I have heard that works is dumping some jellybeans in the hole. From what I understand, they can't process the sugar and will die from hyperglycemia.
Of course, shooting them is the easiest but they seem to know when you're there waiting on them.
gregtwojeeps
Well-known member
Good point on the coyotes, they are killing our cats, small dogs, rabbits, any small animal around here they can get to, which has made them a target for the varmit shooters around here also..
If you mean the Vice steel legs trap, hmmmm, nope. The OP's dog or neighbors dog might get a leg in it or even a kid running through the field possibly while not looking down.
+1. Water features work nicely too.
sbosecker
Well-known member
I think he was referring to a Conibear trap...
... we used these very effectively when I was growing up. However, your point about other animals getting in them is valid as well.
Best regards,
Scott
... we used these very effectively when I was growing up. However, your point about other animals getting in them is valid as well.
Best regards,
Scott
Charles (in GA)
Well-known member
Zyklon-B ? Also known as "prussian blue" as it left a light blue dust. Granular in form, it turns to gas when exposed to air. This is what was used in the extermination camps in Europe in the Second World War. It is a cyanide-based pesticide invented in the early 1920s
Its original purpose was to kill vermin in houses and buildings. It was used extensively in the US for fumigating and de-lousing in the 1930's and '40's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zyklon_B
Charles
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Bobdog
Well-known member
I spent ten years shooting the damn things with a .22, must have killed close to 100.
I finally gave up and got a dog (Black Lab), haven't seen a groundhog since.
I finally gave up and got a dog (Black Lab), haven't seen a groundhog since.
nicksnothereman
Well-known member
They used to sell these vibrational doodads you stick in the ground. Might be your first option.
I'm not a groundhog psychologist so I don't know why they would burrow under buildings. Are they dirt floor buildings? Looking for food probably. Used to have them in pa but didn't cause any issues. Depends on where you live but you could do sacrificial plants of food they eat away from the buildings, would be the easiest/cheapest way to do it. Maybe carrots would do it just gotta make sure they grow.
Spareparts
Well-known member
If you got a golf course nearby talk to them, we get some poison worms and just deop them in the active burrows, the burrowing stops in a couple of days and don't see any new ones. I heard they are pricy but they work.
Hi there!
When I lived in Lexington I couldn't use a firearm (not even an air rifle) in the city limits (and in my old neighborhood, it would have been irresponsible anyway) so I used a Havahart trap baited with cantaloupe. Groundhogs love the stuff. I released the critters far away, where they would hopefully be hit by a semi or something...
I did also catch several opossums (or one really stupid one over and over again). I just turned them loose. I was more worried about catching a skunk. If that had happened I'm not sure how I would have handled it. A friend had a skunk under his shed, and Animal Control wouldn't have anything to do with it.
When I lived in Lexington I couldn't use a firearm (not even an air rifle) in the city limits (and in my old neighborhood, it would have been irresponsible anyway) so I used a Havahart trap baited with cantaloupe. Groundhogs love the stuff. I released the critters far away, where they would hopefully be hit by a semi or something...
I did also catch several opossums (or one really stupid one over and over again). I just turned them loose. I was more worried about catching a skunk. If that had happened I'm not sure how I would have handled it. A friend had a skunk under his shed, and Animal Control wouldn't have anything to do with it.
Never had an issue when we had our Jack Russells. Unfortunately they are gone. The little bastards (groundhogs) have burrowed under the dirt floor of my barn so the gas in the hole technique makes me nervous. It does sound cool though. I like things that go BOOM! Thanks for all the ideas.
Thanks for all the ideas.sbosecker
Well-known member
Charles,
Today, as I was working on my lawnmower, the wonder of one's subconscious was made apparent when the word "Cyanogas" popped into my head.
Your description (below) matches my recollection of the "powder" and when I clicked on the link, the article mentioned a liquid form that my dad mentioned when I asked him about the "groundhog killer" we had used.
After I looked at the Wikipedia article I did a Google search for cyanogas and found several references. My favorite was
Best regards,
Scott
Today, as I was working on my lawnmower, the wonder of one's subconscious was made apparent when the word "Cyanogas" popped into my head.
Your description (below) matches my recollection of the "powder" and when I clicked on the link, the article mentioned a liquid form that my dad mentioned when I asked him about the "groundhog killer" we had used.
After I looked at the Wikipedia article I did a Google search for cyanogas and found several references. My favorite was
Best regards,
Scott
FloydShine
Well-known member
Now here is a man that has the answer!! His techniques have worked for country folk for generations.
58Yeoman
Well-known member
Milky spore isn't working for me and the moles. I think this is the third year that I will be spreading it, (haven't yet), but the moles are already hitting my yard. I thought it was still frozen.
I had a new neighbor that tried this method, only he used 2 gallons of gasoline. When he tossed the match he dang near blew himself up and the garage 50 feet away was blown off its foundation. That's when he found out the other end of the burrow was under the garage.
I hate groundhogs. They've done damage in and under my barn and outbuildings. Only surefire cure I've found is high speed lead injections. They can be pretty tough. I've shot em with everything from .22 rimfire to .243 and .44 mag and 12guage.
John in OH
Well-known member
Man, I feel your pain!! I've got groundhogs all over my Ohio farms. Usually use a .22LR and that works pretty good (and is also a lot of fun) but you have to catch them out in the open so it's a "hit or miss" solution (hee hee).
I'm definitely going to try the dirty cat litter option! My daughter has a cat so I'll have her save a few bags of Ninny's poo and give that a try ... I'm sure my daughter will be thrilled to keep a few stinky bags of dirty litter in her garage until I can pick it up!
Nope. Sacrificial foods is not a solution. They actually eat a pretty healthy diet ... usually clover, grain, berries, etc., but I've never noticed grubs as being a major diet feature.
The problem isn't that the groundhogs damage so much by eating, (although they will play hell with a vegetable garden), it's their burrowing that is the problem. Those damn things will dig a burrow nearly anywhere ... under stumps, INSIDE of dirt floor sheds, under sheds, under concrete floors, or out in open fields (suffered lots of farm implement damage from a wheel suddenly dropping into a burrow I didn't see!!). But, for some unknown reason they do have a affinity for burrowing in and around buildings.
Nice research, Scott!! Cool old advertisement!
Also, bare in mind there's almost always two burrow holes, a primary and a secondary, so both have to be plugged if you are going to use a suffocation method. And be careful with gas/fire methods that back-blow from the secondary entrance doesn't set your shop on fire!
I'm definitely going to try the dirty cat litter option! My daughter has a cat so I'll have her save a few bags of Ninny's poo and give that a try ... I'm sure my daughter will be thrilled to keep a few stinky bags of dirty litter in her garage until I can pick it up!
They used to sell these vibrational doodads you stick in the ground. Might be your first option.
I'm not a groundhog psychologist so I don't know why they would burrow under buildings. Are they dirt floor buildings? Looking for food probably. Used to have them in pa but didn't cause any issues. Depends on where you live but you could do sacrificial plants of food they eat away from the buildings, would be the easiest/cheapest way to do it. Maybe carrots would do it just gotta make sure they grow.
Nope. Sacrificial foods is not a solution. They actually eat a pretty healthy diet ... usually clover, grain, berries, etc., but I've never noticed grubs as being a major diet feature.
The problem isn't that the groundhogs damage so much by eating, (although they will play hell with a vegetable garden), it's their burrowing that is the problem. Those damn things will dig a burrow nearly anywhere ... under stumps, INSIDE of dirt floor sheds, under sheds, under concrete floors, or out in open fields (suffered lots of farm implement damage from a wheel suddenly dropping into a burrow I didn't see!!). But, for some unknown reason they do have a affinity for burrowing in and around buildings.
Nice research, Scott!! Cool old advertisement!
Also, bare in mind there's almost always two burrow holes, a primary and a secondary, so both have to be plugged if you are going to use a suffocation method. And be careful with gas/fire methods that back-blow from the secondary entrance doesn't set your shop on fire!
MScott
Well-known member
That's why I specified 1/2 cup of gasoline (and that's a maximum.) It isn't the amount of gasoline you use, it's the fumes that do the deed. The amount I use only results in a "whoomp" that you can barely feel and there is no flame unless you spill some around the entrance of the hole. You do have to be careful of the second exit as it will blow dirt and stones out when it goes off. My brother found this out when he stood over an unseen second entrance and had dirt/stones blow out between his legs one time. Scared the **** out of him. I nearly died laughing.
Only a complete idiot would use 2 gallons of gas.Professur
Well-known member
Gotta ask ... how edible are they?