My Groundhog Summer 2006
Moderator: Chris_W
My Groundhog Summer 2006
I don't post often, and I did the search of previous encounters with groundhogs in this forum. I'm also a hosta-newbie, so many of my losses were "crappy hostas" that nobody plants or replants, or whatever.
But the amount of devastation done by one groundhog can be astounding, and I found that out personally this Summer. I hope nothing like this happens to any of you.
I have a little side garden that looked like this in July:
Nothing special, nothing even noteworthy compared to the spectacular pics people post here of their gardens. But for the house that I live in, it is a huge improvement over the thistles and stumps that used to be there. I'd also like to take a moment to thank our gas company for putting a giant ugly gas meter on the front of our home.
But I digress...
A big, fat groundhog moved in:
The hole is right at the foundation of the house! Right by where my cat sits in the window... right by where the morning paper is delivered. I live in a city of 300k, one block from a mall (Merle Hay) and 3 blocks from an elementary school. The use of a firearm was not an option. I'm an animal lover and over the course of 6 weeks I tried every humane deterrant I could find on the web. I put the cat's litterbox down the hole, I tried to flood it, and tried every thing I could think of: Hav-a-hart Live trap, castor oil, mole deterrant, moth balls, you name it. It keeps coming back.
Groundhogs can move an enourmous amount of earth in one day. Pictures don't do justice as to what a critter like that can do while you are sleeping.
I believe I may have caught Mr. Groundhog while he was in his hole on Sat Sep 23rd. I grabbed a long hose and hooked it up to my automobile exhaust, and let carbon monoxide do its' work down in the hole (errr... "cavern"). This is not the first time I've tried this so I could be completely wrong... again... or Mr. Groundhog may finally be taking that long, last nap.
I'll keep you updated if there is interest.
But the amount of devastation done by one groundhog can be astounding, and I found that out personally this Summer. I hope nothing like this happens to any of you.
I have a little side garden that looked like this in July:
Nothing special, nothing even noteworthy compared to the spectacular pics people post here of their gardens. But for the house that I live in, it is a huge improvement over the thistles and stumps that used to be there. I'd also like to take a moment to thank our gas company for putting a giant ugly gas meter on the front of our home.
But I digress...
A big, fat groundhog moved in:
The hole is right at the foundation of the house! Right by where my cat sits in the window... right by where the morning paper is delivered. I live in a city of 300k, one block from a mall (Merle Hay) and 3 blocks from an elementary school. The use of a firearm was not an option. I'm an animal lover and over the course of 6 weeks I tried every humane deterrant I could find on the web. I put the cat's litterbox down the hole, I tried to flood it, and tried every thing I could think of: Hav-a-hart Live trap, castor oil, mole deterrant, moth balls, you name it. It keeps coming back.
Groundhogs can move an enourmous amount of earth in one day. Pictures don't do justice as to what a critter like that can do while you are sleeping.
I believe I may have caught Mr. Groundhog while he was in his hole on Sat Sep 23rd. I grabbed a long hose and hooked it up to my automobile exhaust, and let carbon monoxide do its' work down in the hole (errr... "cavern"). This is not the first time I've tried this so I could be completely wrong... again... or Mr. Groundhog may finally be taking that long, last nap.
I'll keep you updated if there is interest.
You can see the amount of digging... that one hosta is just about buried. Uggghhh!! I hope you finally won this battle.
"A friend is someone who knows the song of your soul and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
PeggyC's Hosta List
PeggyC's Hosta List
- Tundra_Queen
- Posts: 5743
- Joined: Oct 07, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Northern Ontario Zone 2
- Contact:
Scaz, any sign of the groundhog since your gassing experiment? My brother has been busy plopping smoke bombs down the groundhog holes at our old home place, which is still in the family. The groundhogs moved in with a vengeance this year. DH has been trying to get rid of one that moved in to his machine shed for the last couple of years. I'm not sure if it's gone yet or not. I haven't seen any sign of it for a while, but I haven't been out that way much. I don't know why they insist on digging right next to a building. We have acres out there that they can dig around in, and they have to come up by the buildings!
Linda P
Linda P
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten.....
Algernon Charles Swinburne
Latitude: 41° 51' 12.1572"
My Hosta List
- Tundra_Queen
- Posts: 5743
- Joined: Oct 07, 2001 8:00 pm
- Location: Northern Ontario Zone 2
- Contact:
- Garden_of_Mu
- Posts: 4518
- Joined: Mar 12, 2002 8:00 pm
- USDA Zone: 7
- Location: Olympia, WA
TundraQueen - I suspect you have hit the nail on the head there! I'll bet those critters just love to burrow under a foundation where they can be assured of dry, temperature stable dirt to build homes in. I am so thankful I do not have to deal with such a nuisance. My moles look much less of a problem by comparison. Good luck in your battles, everyone.
~ Mike
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t
matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Theodore Geisel, aka Dr.
Seuss
“Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t
matter and those who matter don’t mind.” - Theodore Geisel, aka Dr.
Seuss
May 9 update 2007...
No sign of the groundhog. If he survived the "exhaust treatment" he ran far, far away. My neighbor and I agree that there is probably a fat little corpse in my front yard now, becoming part of the ecosystem.
R.I.P. Mr Groundhog, if you'd have stayed in the grove out back, you'd still be alive... but you chose a different path.
No sign of the groundhog. If he survived the "exhaust treatment" he ran far, far away. My neighbor and I agree that there is probably a fat little corpse in my front yard now, becoming part of the ecosystem.
R.I.P. Mr Groundhog, if you'd have stayed in the grove out back, you'd still be alive... but you chose a different path.
I'm glad to hear that you were able to play terminator effectively!
"A friend is someone who knows the song of your soul and sings it back to you when you have forgotten the words."
PeggyC's Hosta List
PeggyC's Hosta List