Getting rid of groundhogs

[Sonshe]

How do you get rid of groundhogs if you can't shot them? I live in the city with a small woods in back. I can't shoot them. I've tried antifreeze. Didn't work. Tried oil on a sponge. Didn't work. I'm desperate. Can't trap them either as this point in my life.

[comfortablynumb]

they dont like mothballs tossed down the holes and they will abandon the burrows and move elsewhere.

sometimes.

man, dont put out antifreeze, thats just wrong. anyhthing can and will drink it.

[ladyrua]

I live in the city as well and just spent yesterday groundhog-proofing my tomato and corn patch. A sturdy 3-4' fence, clear out the underbrush around it, and some cayanne pepper around the perimeter and the entrance to the burrow helps an awful lot. I went out this morning and the little bugger was sitting on the outside of the fence looking longingly at my matos. *evil cackle*

[rufus]

I am in a simular situation where I live, outside the city but I have a line of houses within rifle distance anyway. I have become a little inventive to getting rid of them. Some sucess with live traps (quartered apples, lettuce, cabbage or what ever they are trying to get in the garden), 220 conibear traps (careful with this one if you are worried about cats. They break either the necks or back depending on the direction of travel), shotgunn, poison stink bombs sold at feed stores), heard of used kitty litter down their holes and a few more. My Great Uncle said his grandpa had a pair of rat terriers that wouldn't pass a ground hog hole without checking it out. He said they waited as long as 1/2 an hour before they would drag out the dead groundhog. On a side note, I had some hogs took up house in holes dug along side my barn so I tried the connibear method and ended up the a skunk! What a stink, but no more groundhogs either!

[agmantoo]

Buy lye that is used to make soap. Sprinkle the lye in the area you do not want the ground hogs. They will cease to use the place, so will rats and mice. Do not put this out where you have children or pets!

[JAK]

I understand you can kill them with a bow, and that you can eat them, but perhaps not in the city. The gophers around here are pretty big, so you would need a pretty strong bow, and I understand they still make it to the hole after they are hit. Cute little fellows. I have about 3-4" of gravelly clay on top of rock in my yard, so they don't bother me, though I have seen burrows in rockier places. There is one that like to browse in my backyard along with the deer, but the deer do most of the eating. I now use a raised bed with chickenwire for anything I don't wish to share.

Is your problem with the digging, or with the vegetables it eats? I would suggest making friends out of a few and making a meal out of the odd one, and then call it a fair trade. I am not sure how to prepare one if I did manage to kit and kill one. I would probably stew it like a rabbit. Does anyone know how they compare to rabbit?

[Rockin'B]

I used a haveheart trap baited with fruit. When I caught them I dunked the trap in water and drowned them.
We had severe issues with g'hogs and racoons. It worked.

[chris30523]

my dogs take care of our groundhogs.The jack russell chases them out and the blue heelers kill them.Then they leave them on the porch for me to find .My problem is rabbits..the dogs are too busy with their heads in a hole to see the bunnys eating my garden...

[big rockpile]

I'll be glad when we get them here.There is a few but not very many.

big rockpile