Groundhogs
 

I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a nice
piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the trap just in
case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large their colonies
are?

Groundhogs
 

SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the
trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups
and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Groundhogs
 

"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a nice
piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the trap just in
case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large their colonies
are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups and barns
have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

Steve

Groundhogs
 

SteveB wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the
trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups
and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--
--
--John

I distinctly remember seeing it in a movie, so it must be true. As
for killing all the rodents in that burrow, isn't that the point?

Some people don't like killing things, even rodents, others don't
mind, others enjoy it. I have no idea where the OP falls on that
spectrum. Given that he's relocated one already my guess is that he'd
rather not kill them if he could avoid it.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Groundhogs
 

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the
trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups
and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--
--
--John

I distinctly remember seeing it in a movie, so it must be true. As for
killing all the rodents in that burrow, isn't that the point?

Steve

Groundhogs
 

On Wed, 14 May 2008 13:13:41 -0400, J. Clarke wrote:

SteveB wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--
--
--John

I distinctly remember seeing it in a movie, so it must be true. As for
killing all the rodents in that burrow, isn't that the point?

Some people don't like killing things, even rodents, others don't mind,
others enjoy it. I have no idea where the OP falls on that spectrum.
Given that he's relocated one already my guess is that he'd rather not
kill them if he could avoid it.

--

I don't want to kill them if I can avoid it. I've managed to trap one so
I know the trap works. The groundhog was fairly passive so moving them to
conservation land and then releasing them seems like the best course of
action. If they were vicious then I'd consider killing them but given how
tame they are I don't see any reason to harm them.

Groundhogs
 

"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"J. Clarke" wrote in message
...
SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the
trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups
and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--
--
--John

I distinctly remember seeing it in a movie, so it must be true. As
for killing all the rodents in that burrow, isn't that the point?

Some people don't like killing things, even rodents, others don't
mind, others enjoy it. I have no idea where the OP falls on that
spectrum. Given that he's relocated one already my guess is that he'd
rather not kill them if he could avoid it.

--
--
--John

I see. Perhaps if the OP would just go to the groundhog and talk to it, it
would be reasonable.

Steve

Groundhogs
 

In article ,
"J. Clarke" wrote:

SteveB wrote:
"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
I caught one last night in my live trap, he's been relocated to a
nice piece of conservation land in another town. I've reset the
trap
just in case there are more of them. Does anyone know how large
their colonies are?

I have heard in the thousands. Even heard of cases where pickups
and
barns have disappeared when they made enough tunnels underneath.

I believe you are confusing groundhogs with prairie dogs. You're
unlikely to find more than a half dozen or so groundhogs in one
burrow. Note that around this time of the year the females will be
giving birth, so if you trap and relocate the mother, you may be
killing the young in the burrow.

--

Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

Groundhogs
 

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:11:31 -0500, Omelet wrote:


Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)

Also great exercisers for a dog. Fun to chase, but impossible to catch.

Groundhogs
 

In article ,
jellybean stonerfish wrote:

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:11:31 -0500, Omelet wrote:


Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)

Also great exercisers for a dog. Fun to chase, but impossible to catch.

Hee! Might have to try that with the border collie...
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

Groundhogs
 

Omelet wrote:
In article ,
jellybean stonerfish wrote:

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:11:31 -0500, Omelet wrote:

Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)
Also great exercisers for a dog. Fun to chase, but impossible to catch.

Hee! Might have to try that with the border collie...

I've never seen a groundhog or prairie dog, but we've got countless
gophers at my new workplace (where I'm trying to set up a small veg
garden). I've tried several of the more traditional baits to trap the
burrowing little garden-guerrillas and tomato-terrorists but to date
they seem to lust most after bits of greasy breaded skin from leftover
supermarket fried chicken, if they can get to it before the ants carry
it all away. I trapped six gophers in one day using two traps when I
switched from peanut butter or grain baits to fried chicken.

I was given the choice to move here or become unemployed - I'm still not
certain I made the right decision...

Groundhogs
 

In article ,
none ""Mark\"@(none)" wrote:

Omelet wrote:
In article ,
jellybean stonerfish wrote:

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:11:31 -0500, Omelet wrote:

Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)
Also great exercisers for a dog. Fun to chase, but impossible to catch.

Hee! Might have to try that with the border collie...

I've never seen a groundhog or prairie dog, but we've got countless
gophers at my new workplace (where I'm trying to set up a small veg
garden). I've tried several of the more traditional baits to trap the
burrowing little garden-guerrillas and tomato-terrorists but to date
they seem to lust most after bits of greasy breaded skin from leftover
supermarket fried chicken, if they can get to it before the ants carry
it all away. I trapped six gophers in one day using two traps when I
switched from peanut butter or grain baits to fried chicken.

I was given the choice to move here or become unemployed - I'm still not
certain I made the right decision...

Well...

How are you at snake hunting?

When we lived in the foothills above the Mojave desert in Californica,
(above Lancaster), we had a HORRIBLE time with gophers and moles.
Cats are better than dogs at killing those, but it still was not
enough...

We used to have to take our own garbage to the local landfill. There was
a spot in the Antelope Valley where they were using the San Andreas
fault fissure as a landfill. g I'm not kidding...

Anyhoo, the roads thru the desert leading to the landfills and sunset
often had snakes laying out on the roads to stay warm while the desert
cooled. Mostly gopher snakes, kingsnakes and the occasional mojave
green. We left those (the rattlesnakes) alone of course!

We'd stop for the beneficials and pick them up. Some would die on the
way home as they'd already been run over by another car and you could
not always tell they were fatally injured. sigh

Anyway, we introduced about a dozen or more snakes into gopher holes
over a two year period.

The gopher and mole problem TOTALLY disappeared, and it put a dent in
the local ground squirrel population too. :-)

Natural predators always work better than traps and poison IME.

I also kept the occasional snake as a pet. I fed them using a baited
repeater mouse trap...
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

Groundhogs
 

Omelet wrote:
In article ,
none ""Mark\"@(none)" wrote:

Omelet wrote:
In article ,
jellybean stonerfish wrote:

On Thu, 15 May 2008 10:11:31 -0500, Omelet wrote:

Prairie dogs are good for long range marksmanship practice. ;-)
Also great exercisers for a dog. Fun to chase, but impossible to catch.
Hee! Might have to try that with the border collie...
I've never seen a groundhog or prairie dog, but we've got countless
gophers at my new workplace (where I'm trying to set up a small veg
garden). I've tried several of the more traditional baits to trap the
burrowing little garden-guerrillas and tomato-terrorists but to date
they seem to lust most after bits of greasy breaded skin from leftover
supermarket fried chicken, if they can get to it before the ants carry
it all away. I trapped six gophers in one day using two traps when I
switched from peanut butter or grain baits to fried chicken.

I was given the choice to move here or become unemployed - I'm still not
certain I made the right decision...

Well...

How are you at snake hunting?

When we lived in the foothills above the Mojave desert in Californica,
(above Lancaster), we had a HORRIBLE time with gophers and moles.
Cats are better than dogs at killing those, but it still was not
enough...

We used to have to take our own garbage to the local landfill. There was
a spot in the Antelope Valley where they were using the San Andreas
fault fissure as a landfill. g I'm not kidding...

Anyhoo, the roads thru the desert leading to the landfills and sunset
often had snakes laying out on the roads to stay warm while the desert
cooled. Mostly gopher snakes, kingsnakes and the occasional mojave
green. We left those (the rattlesnakes) alone of course!

We'd stop for the beneficials and pick them up. Some would die on the
way home as they'd already been run over by another car and you could
not always tell they were fatally injured. sigh

Anyway, we introduced about a dozen or more snakes into gopher holes
over a two year period.

The gopher and mole problem TOTALLY disappeared, and it put a dent in
the local ground squirrel population too. :-)

Natural predators always work better than traps and poison IME.

I also kept the occasional snake as a pet. I fed them using a baited
repeater mouse trap...

That sounds like an excellent idea!
I'd been considering using a "Rodenator" (As seen on YouTube).

I've seen only one very small snake since moving to Kennewick, WA.
It was coiled up on the hallway carpet, in front of a restroom at work.

I'll assume that means there are snakes outside the building as well,
since most snakes aren't civilized enough to come indoors and wait in
line to use the toilet... (grin)

Considering the size and ferocity of our gophers, I'd better choose only
large snakes. Perhaps I should read up on them first, as I know only
"Stay away from snakes with rattles".

Groundhogs
 

In article ,
none ""Mark\"@(none)" wrote:

Natural predators always work better than traps and poison IME.

I also kept the occasional snake as a pet. I fed them using a baited
repeater mouse trap...

That sounds like an excellent idea!
I'd been considering using a "Rodenator" (As seen on YouTube).

I'll have to look at that just for grins!


I've seen only one very small snake since moving to Kennewick, WA.
It was coiled up on the hallway carpet, in front of a restroom at work.

I'll assume that means there are snakes outside the building as well,
since most snakes aren't civilized enough to come indoors and wait in
line to use the toilet... (grin)

Considering the size and ferocity of our gophers, I'd better choose only
large snakes. Perhaps I should read up on them first, as I know only
"Stay away from snakes with rattles".

It sure won't hurt. ;-) Trick is to introduce predators, and convince
your neighbors not to kill them.

Honestly, if you do study up on Herpetology, you will find that America
has very few poisonous reptiles. Learn to recognize those few and the
rest are safe.
--
Peace! Om

"Human nature seems to be to control other people
until they put their foot down." -- Stephan Rothstein

Groundhogs
 

Omelet wrote:
In article ,
none ""Mark\"@(none)" wrote:

Natural predators always work better than traps and poison IME.

I also kept the occasional snake as a pet. I fed them using a baited
repeater mouse trap...
That sounds like an excellent idea!
I'd been considering using a "Rodenator" (As seen on YouTube).

I'll have to look at that just for grins!

I've seen only one very small snake since moving to Kennewick, WA.
It was coiled up on the hallway carpet, in front of a restroom at work.

I'll assume that means there are snakes outside the building as well,
since most snakes aren't civilized enough to come indoors and wait in
line to use the toilet... (grin)

Considering the size and ferocity of our gophers, I'd better choose only
large snakes. Perhaps I should read up on them first, as I know only
"Stay away from snakes with rattles".

It sure won't hurt. ;-) Trick is to introduce predators, and convince
your neighbors not to kill them.

Honestly, if you do study up on Herpetology, you will find that America
has very few poisonous reptiles. Learn to recognize those few and the
rest are safe.

I'll get around to it - in my own rather disorganized manner!
Update: The gophers devoured my tomato plants, the broccoli, and
unexpectedly... the pimiento pepper plant. Perhaps I should have planted
habenero!? Maybe horseradish? These gophers are out of control - A
blackbird made the sad mistake of pecking at a trap, and hopefully left
this world without suffering... And a gopher dragged its carcass, still
in the trap, halfway down a gopher hole to gnaw upon it.
Only halfway, because the trap was too wide to fit down the hole.
Mutant, carnivorous, radioactive gophers! Run! Run for your lives!