Since last Spring I have been fighting a war of wits against a very worthy opponent. None other than Marmota manax, the common groundhog. Or woodchuck, or whistle pig. I would like to point out that this formidable opponent has been described as incredibly intelligent, and able to work well together in coordinated groups. They have also been described as having a brain the size of a cashew. Significantly smaller than a human’s brain, but slightly larger than most Republican House of Representative members that can’t seem to work together in an organized group.
Marmota manax eyeing up the yard.
One would think this is a lop-sided fight. A cashew sized brain versus a human sized brain. Even if I’ve never been identified as highly intelligent or able to work well in a group, this should be a one-sided fight. Somehow though, I seem to be losing.
The groundhogs do have cuteness on their side. The little monsters can be downright adorable. Especially when a litter emerged from under the shop this past Spring. The babies would come out and nuzzle with Momma or play with each other like some kind of a Disney nature show. I really didn’t have too much of a problem when it appeared they just had a single hole going under my shop. Then more holes started appearing. I now seem to have a multi entrance groundhog condo complex under my shop.
So I went to work ridding myself of the little scourges. I really didn’t want to hurt them. I’m a live and let live kind of person. I didn’t mind them eating the bird seed. I wasn’t too pleased about their raids on the tomato plants, but mostly I just didn’t want them tunneling under the shop.
Numerous sources said a humane way to get rid of them was to dump fouled kitty litter or ammonia into their holes. Conveniently we were cat sitting for six weeks giving us an ample supply of really fouled kitty litter. Given how nasty that stuff smelled, maybe this technique wasn’t too humane, but I was getting desperate. They were starting to invite their friends into the condo complex.
Sargent Pepper, our source of fouled kitty litter. He was real happy doing nothing but sleeping, eating, and fouling kitty litter.
I dumped kitty litter into the auxiliary entrance holes for about a week. After a while they stopped using those holes so I filled the holes with dirt and poured ammonia on top of the fill for good measure. Once they went several days without digging out the auxiliary entrances I started dumping kitty litter into the main entrance. After about a week I saw no groundhogs or evidence of ingress or egress so I closed off the main entrance and poured ammonia on top.
The kitty litter seemed to do the job. I saw no activity around the filled in holes or feeding around the bird feeders. The tomato raids ceased too. A new burrow appeared back in my neighbor’s woodlot and I saw groundhogs go in and out of it. Success I thought. I won. Until a couple weeks later my neighbor started building a barn on his lot and clearing underbrush from the woodlot. I guess that was worse than the kitty litter because the groundhogs are back.
Right now I appear to be dealing with two of them. Both are fattening up for hibernation. They’re huge. They look like furry tsunamis when they move. Their new primary entrance/exit is under the woodpile, about two feet from their original main entrance. It looks large enough to be a portal to Hell. And they reopened a couple of the secondary entrances too.
I managed to get one of the secondary entrances sealed off using the last of our ammonia. Apparently other people may be doing the same thing I am. Ammonia is in short supply around here. I went to several stores and they’re all out of ammonia. I may lose this war because of logistical issues.
Currently the battle is focused on the only auxiliary hole they have. If I can get that sealed off I can then start working on the main entrance. I really, really want them out of there before hibernation. Unfortunately, things are not going my way. I don’t have kitty litter or ammonia. I’ve tried using another bad smelling liquid that I produce naturally every couple hours. I fill up a cup and then dump the stuff down their hole for a couple days. At night I can bypass the cup and go right to fouling their entrance. After a couple days of no apparent activity I fill the hole, and dump some more liquid on top.
Guarding the secondary entrance. (picture taken through the window screen)
A couple times I thought I was successful. The hole would stay closed off for a couple days and I would get ready to attack the main entrance. Then, like magic, the hole would be opened again. They have an uncanny ability to know when I’m gone from the house. The hole could be filled for two days, I leave the house for an hour, and I come home to an open hole. They not only work well together in groups, they are apparently intelligent enough to track my coming and going. Maybe I need to give it up and try something requiring less mental capacity. Like being a Republican House of Representatives member.
Filled in for a couple days.
What I came home to an hour later.
Ed's and Lise's Biggish Years 