Repelling of groundhogs

[Indictorfands]

Any ideas?

[SugarChile]

They don't repel easily....I've had some success using cayenne pepper sprinkled on susceptible young plants; you need to reapply frequently. I have better luck bribing mine--he loves cantaloupe rinds and sweet corn cobs. I leave them at the edge of the compost pile, which is between his hole and the garden, and he stays happy/distracted enough to stay out of the garden. I also send the dog to chase it when I can, but she's a lab and not too terrifying.

The only permanent solution is to fence in the garden, or kill/trap the groundhog. If you get rid of the groundhog, another one will often to claim the same territory.

Cheers Sue [e-mail] Zone 6, Southcentral PA

[B. Joshua Rosen]

I named my groundhog Turing, if you name an animal he becomes a pet rather than a pest.

[simy1]

fence the garden, extend the fence below ground, place an electric wire on top of the fence. One of my groundhogs has his burrow about 15 feet from my garden but he no longer visits.

[Fudge]

Live trap baited with apple. Deport to Botswana or euthanize immediately. They are the rodent from Hell.

Farmer John

[Marc]

An expert gardener informed me that the battery-powered in-ground stakes are ineffective.

Marc

[Indictorfands]

thanks,marc!

7 replies so far-NO MAGIC CURE YET!

dad

[Pat Meadows]

You got that right! I've no particularly merciful feelings about groundhogs.

So far in our present location, they've not been a problem. The veggie garden is inside the dogs' fenced area. The veggie garden itself is fenced - to keep the dogs out, and to keep rabbits out.

However, we just changed the fencing around to expand the garden, and now one side of the garden is not protected by the dogs. We'll see how it goes.

Pat

[NS9G]

All you need is a rifle and a shovel.

[Prof.Zooks]

Electric fence will stop them unless you have dry weather. Lot of maint. but may be worth it. You can also try dusting plants with dried blood or rock phosphate. Lots of applications needed...

Regards, PZ.

[Minteeleaf]

My parents' garden--200x100, was overrun by groundhogs during occasional years. My dad was a good hunter & shot them. He cleaned & skinned them & Mom made stew. Pretty good.

I'd shoot them myself. It's them or your produce.

Minteeleaf

[Seamus Ma' Cleriec]

Before moving to Pa. we lived in the Shenadoah Valley of Va. and had a pet groundhog. My daughter named our groundhog "Harvey" - though he definitly was not invisible :-).

The neighbor at the time owned a c>