paghat wrote:
joy2wrld wrote:
Any suggestions on how to get rid of a ground hog? Thanks in advance.
Joy
Groundhogs are territorial & usually refuse even to live in pairs. With
rare exceptions a gardener will only have to cope with one groundhog at a
time, as they're not like prairie dogs & ground squirrels that live in
colonies, & they're not like rabbits that have extended families in
warrens. A female will annually raise a family, but they won't remain in
her territory when they are adult.
That generality can be mucked up by feeding groundhogs & rendering them
semi-tame. Whichever groundhog is "primary" in the territory may permit
offspring to return to a "common feeding ground" if excesses of fun food
are provided. But if one doesn't mind visits from adorable mammals,
feeding them carrots & broccoli & encouraging them to hang out doesn't
necessarily mean the garden is a gonner, as many people encourage them as
readily as they encourage birds, & gardens somehow manage to thrive in the
presence of a groundhog.
There are many people who manage to live with a groundhog & enjoy having
one about. There's no question but that they CAN wreck stuff, but so does
a big outdoor dog, so do children, so does the wind -- probably none of it
does as much harm as the basic lawn & garden chemicals far too many
gardeners put all over tarnation in the misguided belief they're doing
good. A world in which chemicals are embraced & fauna is discouraged is a
weird damned world.
It may not always be possible to live up to an ideal, but it should be
much more often possible to enjoy things of nature, such as a garden,
without having to negate everything else in nature.
This website:
http://www.hoghaven.com/
will acquaint anyone with the most enjoyable aspects of having a groundhog
about.
-paghat the ratgirl
We have a large yard. The groundhog that has lived in the
back for many is fine and we enjoy watching his antics -
climbing trees and such. However, we have a young one that
has taken to digging holes next to my lilac and very near
the garden. I have found him several times sitting on my
veggie filter for the pond eating the water celery. This
one I would love to see gone!
--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/