How To Keep Ground Hogs Away From Your Property?

If your property has been ‘infested’ by a groundhog or a few of them then you know how destructive these little cute animals really are. And with that, getting rid of them keeps lurking in your mind and won’t rest till you have a workable and effective solution. Damaging crops like peas and melons which is part of what they feed on.

How destructive are they?
• Gnawing on trees which makes them weak and susceptible to falling especially when there are strong winds
• Chew through electrical wires and shorting electrical supply
• Burrowing under the house and other structures weakening the foundation.

Methods that will keep groundhogs away from your property;
• Harvest your crops as soon as it’s possible to do so. Groundhogs primarily feed on vegetables and you are having some lying in your farm will only serve to attract them, by nature. As soon as your crops are mature, make sure that you get them out and that way there’s nothing attracting the groundhogs.
• Clean up wood piles and debris that may be lying around your property. Uprooting tree trunks which the groundhogs may gnaw on, also is beneficial in keeping them away.

Other methods are;
• Placing a fence around your property will serve well in keeping the groundhogs away. It will work even better if you burrow the fence atleast a foot into the ground. An attempt by the groundhog to burrow past it will prove fruitless and this will keep the animal away, leaving your crops safe. Along with this make sure that the fence also goes at least 3 feet high, in consideration that groundhogs are quite agile creatures.
• Getting a dog is also not a bad idea. Though groundhogs are quite aggressive in nature, a big dog may intimidate them into keeping away from the property with the fierce barks against the groundhog.

Mechanical methods to add to the choices above include;
• Using live animal cages is also part of it. This means placing multiple traps especially where you have seen the animals’ burrows increasing the odds of you trapping them.
• Use of lethal traps is also one way to go. It only depends on whether you are willing to kill the animals. Both of the traps stated are available in your local home and garden store.
• Shooting them dead.

The best method is a combination of the methods stated to ensure better results.