Woodchucks Just Seem To Know

[Way Back Jack]

Woodchucks AKA marmots or, more commonly around here, "ground hogs" just know when you're packing a shootin' iron. They present a fat, sassy profile when you're unarmed, but become suspicious when you're packing, darting into bushes, behind trees, into burrows.

The east property line is hog heaven with a dozen mulberry trees, a dozen black cherry trees, and a barbed wire fence that allows them to build a burrow link-up on each side of the wire. The damn burrows cause stuck tractor tires and turned ankles. Smoke bombs are useless and the hogs actually attack and destroy those battery-powered noisemakers that are supposed to repel burrowing creatures. I won't use Golden Malrin poison because it's attractive to pets also. Next to Eric Holder and Nancy Pelosi, I hate hogs more than anybody.

But this one fine day ma and pa hog were doing the dirty need on the lawn not 15 ft. away from this window. I was able to walk right up to them, armed!!!! POW said the left barrel and the old man flipped off his mount. BLAM said the right barrel and ma hog went to her reward. Romantic justice to boot because this happened to be Valentine's Day. That particular year was good with 10 confirmed kills. Some years I don't get any. Well, let's see what shakes out this year.

[Frank]

I trap them in a Hav-a-hart and release them elsewhere but some neighbors trap and drown them in a barrel of water.

When I first had one burrowing in a bank in my back yard, I was working in a lab with access to chloroform. Some older farmer type told me that a bottle of chloroform dumped in their burrow would retain the vapors as it is much heavier than air and Mr. Groundhog would come in and be put to sleep permanently. It took care of my problem but I don't know if I got him or he vacated the area.

I've also taken a couple while bow hunting - taste like chicken ;)

[jimmy]

Back in the 40s, my aunt & uncle had a farm in the Catskill's. Large fields of hay were covered with woodchuck holes. My cousin 16 then and I 13 dropped traps in the holes. Went out to check them every evening, one evening he felt a tug when pulling it. Told me to get out of the way (which I gladly did). Proceeded to pull out a ?????? a skunk, well I was out of the way, however he and the german shepard got the full force of the spray. Didnt see the dog for days, had to bury his clothing, I smelled that odor for months after that...

[little turtle]

I had a client that had one as a pet. It went into the closet when someone came in. It figured out how to open the refrigerator. Not sure of the problems in keeping one. It got out and was eating apples, I think, under the tree when a German Shepard charged it. It went up the tree. yes they can climb some. When the Dog's Owner, a neighbor came to get the dog, the Ground Hog ran down the tree and up the Fella's leg. he didn't know what was happening and shook it free and the dog killed it. They can get pretty large. Dad talked of eating them as somewhat part of the diet. They didn't want them in the crops and money tight. He was raised as a Sharecropper. I cannot remember his description of what they taste like. They used sweet potatoes in traps to catch some of them.

[Frank]

I've caught skunks twice. I was able to release them from the trap without getting sprayed. They will not spray while confined in the trap. To avoid this, it is probably best to close the trap at night as skunks are active at night while groundhogs don't appear to be.