Buy a large Havahart trap, then the question becomes "which vegetables are most delicious served with groundhog?"

I hear they like peaches as bait.

With plenty to choose from, groundhogs by me have NOT eaten tomatoes, peppers, and corn. However, if they ran out of other veggies I'm betting they might find them tasty, too.

Groundhogs can be a nightmare. I had about given up on gardening at one location I like until a bow hunter moved in next door. He probably isn't supposed to shot in this location, but he does it in a safe manner and has made it possible for me to garden there again. He first started shooting the 'hogs after his wife broke through into a tunnel and was stuck up to her thigh in the earth. Amazingly, she did not break her leg or damage joints or tendons.

Naturegirl, do your neighbors use the meat?

I had a relative who ate groundhog. He couldn't believe how much grease came from frying it. He got to the point he placed sticks in it so the grease would not covet the meat!

Mike

Last year I was telling my co-worker about my woodchuck woes (I caught 12 with a havahart) and he told me about a guy who ate woodchucks. The trick was to take a bite of cooked woodchuck then quick drink some cold water so the grease congeals in your mouth. Eewwwwwwww.

In the fall, when my company said they were laying off 50% of my department, I kept thinking about all those woodchucks I'd relocated. Might have been better to keep them around :). Still, I'd have to be pretty desperate to eat woodchuck!

The trick to catching them is indeed peaches - the most expensive ripe peaches you can find (they ignored the non-organic ones). I also put two 2x6 boards on either side of the hole under my fence leading into the trap and placed chicken wire around the whole thing. They could come into the garden, but only through the trap.

Bellatrix

Better break out the George Foreman Grill. The fat just runs right off.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I have a recipe or two, but I figure I'll wait 'till I'm desperate.

The majority of the groundhogs snacking on my garden come from an extensive warren located on my neighbors' overgrown lots. I live in a small village with not much hope of giving the transgressors lead poisoning. I have caught many in my Haveaheart trap, but still they come, like the Viking hordes.

The fence has been my most successful strategy --more effective than the dog, the row covers, the trap, the smokebombs, etc. Still, I'm hoping someone can answer my original question so that I can expand my garden.

How about pumpkins? Cucumbers? Tomatoes? Chile Peppers? Surely, they won't eat everything?

Our woodchuck is quite spoiled - for the past 3 years his summer home has been fully equipped with a well stocked salad bar. Of course the 'salad bar' is my veggie garden and his 'summer home' is a 5" high space under the shed. So much for that plastic 'animal proof' netting - this year we're replacing it with metal/wire. Although, it is quite amusing to watch him stuff his well-endowed, late-summer rear end through a 5" space.....

Back on topic. Mabeldingeldine, I grew mostly in containers with a few tomatoes and bell peppers in the ground. I found the woodchuck thoroughly enjoyed: zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes (only when they were just about ripe and ready to be picked), and carrot greens.

The woodchuck left alone: leeks, jalepeno peppers, hot cherry peppers, bell peppers, potatoes, onions and carrot roots.

Hope this helps and good luck with the 'chucks this year!

Hi Mabel,

My woodchucks had plenty to choose from, so I don't know if my uneaten vegetables were ones they avoid or just low on the list.

They destroyed: peas, beans, broccoli, cabbage, Brussels sprouts (really, all the cole crops), lettuce, cucumber seedlings.

They left alone: onions, parsnip leaves/root, hot peppers, bell peppers, spinach (although, I've heard other people have had them eat it), garlic, tomatillos

I don't think they found the tomatoes or zucchini (too many beans to eat first)

Hope this helps you pick something!

What was your fencing solution? I love to hear about something which works! I'm considering a foot deep underground barrier topped with electric wire.

Thanks,
Bellatrix

In my experience woodchucks will eat anything. They start with their favorites first, then work on down their list of preferences. Any plant not cultivated by a gardener is their last choice.

Fence doesn't need to by buried straight down for the entire foot. It can be buried a few inches down then turned outward. That's less digging and it is effective. A woodchuck will find the smallest gap though.

Jim

I had numerous break-ins in the early days. A chain link fence with an electric wire 6 inches from the top put a complete stop to that. The wire leaves lasting memories. I now keep the gate open all the time and the wire has been disconnected for years. I did have a deer break- in last year. Usually, connecting the wire again for a few days will give you another two years or so of peace. I saw once a deer touch the live wire, and the way it jumped straight in the air and took the other 6 with her in a mad flight, clearly they teach themselves a few things.

glib, was that 120 volts or 24 volt juice?

If you want to electrify a fence, buy a fence charger from a farm supply store. **Do NOT improvise with 120 volt house current.** A fence charger provides pulses of high voltage, low amperage electricity which is not dangerous but gives a scary jolt. The fence wire must be mounted on insulators, also available from the farm store.

Jim

You might be able to out smart ground hogs by using trellised crops and just protecting the base of the vines. The vines may not even need protection if the fruit of the vine is out of reach. You could easily grow cucumbers, pole beans, squash, and small melons on trellises. Ripe melons can have a strong aroma though and a really hungry wily ground hog may try to pull the vines down to reach the melons. I actually grew full size cantaloupe on a trellis once to save space but you do have to support each melon with a mesh bag tied to the top of the trellis.

You might be able to use the same trick with tomatoes but you'd need to do some aggressive pruning early in the season to channel the plant's energy into making an extra long vine

"The vines may not even need protection if the fruit of the vine is out of reach."

They won't wait for the fruit. They will eat young bean plants right to ground level before they have a chance to bloom.

Jim

Ground hogs can climb. I've seen them in Mulberry trees, and they climb up on my benches to help themselves to lettuce and cole crops.

As jimster says. Buy a unit, do not kill yourself. Basically, you have a unit that goes in the plug (mine is in the garage, 7ft up a wall), and two outputs, one to ground, the other to a live, insulated wire (buy at Lowe or Home Depot). I put up a couple of posts behind the garage, so the wire going to the garden is 8 ft in the air. It comes down to the left of the gate, and then the live, naked wire goes around the fence to the right side of the gate.

The unit was 20 dollars in 1998. While at the farm store, buy plastic wire supports that clamp onto a link in the fence, and the naked wire (I had to buy a 1000 ft roll, but eventually I used more than half of it). Best to use sturdy supports, every 6 feet. A deer mangled my first setup so bad, I had to buy new clamps and use new wire. I also tested it with my own hand, thumb on wire, pinky on chain link. It is painful but not dangerous.

Trapping & relocating? Bring them to my ex's house

Animals belong to the wild. And should stay there) Eating weeds and grass. And not my veggies)

About what they wouldn't eat... I think they much like people. We all can eat eggplants, but my neighbor, for example, hates them). So what one groundhog likes, another one can leave alone. I saw him ignoring veggies that other people saying he prefers.

To answer the OPs question, in my opinion the following crops are prone to groundhog and deer damage (I don't always know which is eating the crop so can't make the list specific to groundhogs): pea vines, sunflowers, beets, sweet corn, carrots, sweet potatoes, lettuce. Also some nibbling on cucumber vines, pepper plants, zucchini and bean plants, but not major. Watermelon vines also get nibbled, but fruit is ok. Cantaloupe gets smashed open and eaten once it nears ripeness and smells fragrant.

Crops they have little to no interest in: brassicas, potatoes, winter squash, eggplant, onions, garlic, celery. They'll eat ripe tomatoes from plants, but only get the low hanging fruit. Herbs are pretty much left untouched, but there can be some nibbling on basil if there's nothing else for them to eat.

I have a deer fence but every so often have issues with deer (like when a tree fell on a section of fence), and have battled groundhogs for years. I have planting areas that are more secure than others, and that's where I put the most vulnerable crops.

Asparagus, rhubarb, anything in the onion family -- these all seem to be nonexistent on the groundhog menu. OTOH, anything brassica is a delicacy to them. One groundhog wiped out all of my kale and napa cabbage in one day <burp!>.

Dill - is another plant they love! So herbs are not safe as well...

They ate my fennel too.

They won't eat oregano, thyme, or sage. Or anything in the allium family. They won't eat rhubarb either. Surprisingly they didn't eat my basil outside the fence last year either. I don't think potatoes, peppers, or eggplants are high on their list, but they will eat them.

As others said they particularly love brassicas, and a good patch of brassicas is enough to make them challenge any fence. They also love carrot tops and lettuce.

Ground hogs & people don't mix, whether you garden or not; they are very destructive. I have a pole building with a gravel floor, and unknown to me, a ground hog tunneled under it. I discovered the tunnel when it collapsed under me, and I fell through to above my knees... it was just fortunate that the wood splitter I was pulling at the time didn't fall in with me, and I was not injured.

I would probably feel the same toward a neighbor who was sheltering ground hogs, as I would to someone I caught releasing one on my property - because there's not much difference. Their problem becomes my problem. When I lived in California, I once lived & gardened adjacent to a neglected property, that was riddled with gophers... as fast as I could kill them, more would move in from next door. To say it was frustrating would be an understatement. I would never knowingly impose such a burden on my neighbors, nor should any responsible property owner.

But back to the original question... I concur with those who have mentioned rhubarb and alliums. Probably not much else is safe, and as they destroy one crop - which they can do quickly - they will move on to the next. Pretty much anything people will eat, they will too. I've had good luck with chicken wire fencing low, with electric fence wires just above it to prevent climbing over. This keeps out deer, rabbits & racoons as well. As others have mentioned, the electric fence does not need to be on all the time, but I energize it when I put out transplants, or when I see herbivores moving in.

When I see that a new ground hog has moved in (which tends to happen about this time of year, as the adolescents leave the nest) I break out the havahart, and usually catch it in a day or two. Dried apricots make great bait, but this year all I had to do was place the open trap - unbaited - next to the garden fence, and the ground hog walked right into it while looking for a way in.

Oh, I forgot -- they also love chard and beet greens. Funnily, my fat-butt groundhog, who escapes under an old child's playhouse that I use as a potting shed, has not touched my tomatoes, peppers or eggplants yet (fingers and toes crossed!). My squashes have all been retarded this year in terms of production, so who knows what will happen with them. However, I have hurled insults at this animal regarding its fat posterior, so it might be a female who is sensitive about that and therefore has limited herself to salad greens.

Mary Austin is a total idiot. She should have a garden ravaged by woodchucks, mice and rats in her garage or house, wasps nesting under her siding and geting into her basement or else those Chinese Giant Hornets. She'll appreciate nature then. I haven't had rodents in the house or the Giant Hornets, yet. Thank God.

Whistle pigs, tree rats, and bambis, too, all prey species that due to human intervention lack sufficient predators to control their numbers. We really have no choice but to step in. Removing nuisance animals is the minimum and that is part of the reason we have animal control departments as part of our city governments.

You won't be catching me relocating any ground hogs or tree squirrels that I may catch in my yard.

When Iv'e had a groundhog in Ohio, they basically try to eat any green leaves to see if they are any good and will kill young plants. Once a pepper plants gets some size, they leave them alone. They love green tops of brassicas, leafy veggies, and tops of root veggies. They willeven bite of the tops of young onions and spit them out. The Cabbage family really attracts them like cabbage, brocc, cauli, ornamental kale... will eat them down to stumps. Brassicas seems to really attract them, so I now avoid most of the Cabbage family.

Groundhogs are way smarter than Rabbits. Caught one in a trap with Cauliflower stems and carrots. I'm too emphatic/wimpy to do deal harshley, and quite frankly there is no where to relocate in a legal or responsible manner far as I can figure. They will either die or just go bother public land or private land.

you can always eat the groundhog

I do realize this is an old, old thread but GH's are a gardeners (or farmers) bane.

First if you have one GH you most likely have a family - just like mice. If you spook the GH watch where it goes - they always, always run to a hole, normally have more than one hole and are never more than say 50ft away from one. They are ferocious diggers and will have tunnels that connect.

Their hole will be obvious once you see one as it is not small at all and will go straight down for about 3ft. Horses break their legs in these holes.

Once you find the hole you can use a smoke bomb to exterminate the whole fam damily. Smoke bombs can be found at hardware stores, Home Depots, Lowes, garden centers, etc.

GH will feed in early AM and will be in their hole about noon time and definitely after sundown. They will not come out at night because they cannot see.

Be sure to fill in the hole for a number of reasons like so you (or anyone else) don't fall in it. So other animals don't make it their home. And so you can tell if or when there is any activity - like next year?

A farmer once told me the easiest way to safely get a GH out of your Havahart trap is to fill a garbage can (or larger) with water and send them swimming.

Relocating these animals is making your problem someone elses.

HTH

Got fed up with those creatures and started using Conibear traps last year. Got 8 of them. So far THIS year I haven't seen any. Yet.

I catch any offenders in my havahart trap, then I spray paint them construction orange and relocate them about 5 miles away and across a river and an interstate highway. If any orange woodchucks return I can relocate them further away and across another busy interstate.

In some places it's illegal to take them off your property. Where I am it is.

I think you people are cruel and inhumane. I'd like to see how you'd feel if someone put your pet in a trap! Or shot it with a bow and arrow. Awww your wife stepped in a groundhog hole! She didn't even get hurt!! How about the poor groundhog in his burrow. She could've crushed the natal chamber! Groundhogs are only trying to survive. Can't you just plant some carrots or broccoli just for the Hogs and fence in the veggies you don't want them getting to? There are lots of options without harming them. You could even call your local animal control officer and someone will come out and "humanely" catch them and relocate them. In most states it's illegal to harm or kill or trap them. I have several groundhogs that I feed everyday and they know which food is theirs now and they leave my plants and flowers alone. Their wonderful animals and their beneficial to the environment.

Gosh, people - get a grip!! These are not domesticated pets.......they are rodents!! And destructive ones at that, typically considered a nuisance pest in any farm or cultivated garden as an adult will eat a pound of vegetation daily.

Don't confuse them with dogs, which have an eons long history of domestication and human companionship and are really the only animal specie that "loves unconditionally". Most wild animals (and most other domesticated ones for that matter) would just as soon avoid any human contact....unless one feeds them.

Trapping and disposing of (or relocating if allowed) nuisance animals does not make one a budding serial killer!! What utter nonsense!!

Having noted that the above comments were apparently made
by a troll who only made those two posts, I questioned whether to
respond or not... but my 2 c's.

"Animals love unconditionally, can any of you say that you know even 1 person you can say that about??"

Actually, I know a lot of kind, generous, loving people... including quite a few here. If you only know one, consider changing your social circle. Most animals do not love unconditionally; nature is pretty harsh in that regard. If you don't believe that, try to hug a wild ground hog, their non-verbal instructional style can be very enlightening. Note that either a loving coyote or a loving bobcat will eat the loving ground hog & its young. That, as they say, is the circle of life... tooth & claw. Ascribing anthropomorphic traits to wild animals is naive.

And as OldDutch mentioned above, it is our interference with that natural cycle of predator & prey which leads to the over-population of herbivores & rodents to damaging levels. That is good for neither man nor the animal in question... some form of population control is necessary. Whether for good or ill, willingly or not, our elimination of natural predators forces us to fill that role.

"Next time you enjoy disfiguring or harming/killing/torturing a small
animal, ask yourself if that makes you feel good? If yes, RUN to the
nearest psychiatric ward and check yourself in. That's how all serial
killers start out."

So I guess you are volunteering to take all of those pesky critters off of our hands, and guarantee them the humane treatment they deserve? Because if so, we would love to accommodate your wishes. ;-)

No one here is talking about "disfiguring" or "torturing" animals, so that is turning a mole hill into a ground hog burrow, and inferring evil intent where there is none. Like most sane people - including the majority on this site - I don't enjoy killing animals of any kind, and do so only when necessary. It becomes necessary when those animals cause property damage (see my comments earlier in this thread), become a danger, or cause excessive loss of food intended for my family.

Those who have never gardened, or who have never had to deal with wild animals, may have very distorted views of those of us which share our property with them. If you choose to grow food at sustenance levels, it becomes an issue of who you are growing the food for, and how much you can afford to lose. When fences & all other methods fail (as is often the case with ground hogs), and when relocation is not allowed, sometimes elimination is the only option. I won't apologize or feel guilt for doing so efficiently & humanely.

I totally agree with Zeedman. Groundhogs and other animals are very destructive. They can damage your house, garage, shed foundations for example. They are RODENTS, just like rats and mice. Chipmunks can chew up wires, cables, hoses in your car engine compartment. Ever see those maple tree seed "helicopters" in your engine compartment? Chipmunks building a nest.

Sometimes you have to protect your garden and home from these animals. Where I live it's LEGAL to trap them. And guess what pest control people do to them when THEY trap them? THEY KILL THEM TOO.

Just for the record on this - " You could even call your local animal control officer and someone will come out and "humanely" catch them and relocate them. "

Some years back I called Animal Control (AC) about a groundhog (GH) who informed me they do not come out for GH's and gave me the number of a contractor. I called said contractor who for $200 would come out but first asked if I knew where the GH's hole was - I did not. But if I knew where the hole was why would I need him?

Fast forward and I call AC about feral cats - they won't do anything with feral cats either.

So in both cases I was on my own.

We got this thread bumped, I see. Too bad someone was too wealthy to have to protect food supplies. Many of us grew up closer to the vest than that. Top it all off, with global warming, pests are moving into areas that they never were native to before. Pest control has always been a major part of food production. You want to eat, you got to control em.

I've killed my share over the years. I didn't like it or look forward to it, but it had to be done. No one here said anything about enjoying killing animals. They are rodents that carry diseases and eat my food. I kill them with the same mindset that I set a mousetrap with..I hope it's quick and the animal doesn't suffer, but it has to go.

I grow my food because I prefer it to store bought. Gardening is not easy, and rodents make it that much harder.

I've had a garden here for almost 30 years and this year is the worst I've ever seen for groundhogs. There seems to be a population explosion ...my neighbors and I have killed at least 10 between us this year, and we are very rural. In years past, maybe I had 1, some years none..but this has been a bad year.

I'm not sure I'd bother about the previous two posters. Both signed up ONLY to make the comments noted on this thread. Most likely either trolls or spammers.

And to anyone else who wants to get on their high horse....groundhogs are considered nuisance pests and/or vermin. And they have few natural predators so numbers can easily get out of control.

I flagged the post, maybe a moderator will do their job and remove them.

I tagged it too and I believe a moderator has already agreed with us and its gone.

I see it's gone. There are forums where like minded people can get together and talk..I just don't get why they come here and try to disrupt things.If they had a garden they wouldn't have time to harass others!

The one really good thing about houzz is if you flag a comment as inappropriate or abusive they get right on it and check it out. They don't tolerate much in the way of crap.

We have at least one ground hog nearby. We also have a lot of an invasive plant, common name "wild parsnip". The roots are edible. I am hoping to pile up some dug up roots nearby ( its hole) and would be delighted if the GH got addicted. We have thousands of those plants. If they would prefer the parsnips to our garden plants it would be win- win. :-)

read some posts, In Maine its legal to kill Ground Hogs all year. they have no protections. Not so great for us, we have no guns and do not know how to use them.

In addition I have some mint started, the GHs are said to avoid mint, which I am going to put out, in pots to avoid invasive growth, around our un fenced garden.

I've had more ground hogs this year than ever before. I've gotten rid of 5 adults so far and there's another one lurking around that needs to go. 10 years ago I never saw any on my property.