Woodchuck prevention methods

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Several woodchuck prevention methods - the short answer is that you've got to either build a really good fence around the garden, or trap and remove the woodchucks. Read here for groundhog trapping tips. There are some other preventative measures you can take, but they just aren't as effective as a good fence or trapping. If you can't do it yourself, click here for my nationwide list of 542 pro groundhog trappers serving all 50 states.



Woodchucks (also known as groundhogs - read how to keep groundhogs away) as we normally call them may be a little pest that would surely give us a headache when it comes to vegetable plots or your favorite flower garden. They are tiny animals weighing just about 12 pounds and measure around 20 inches in length but could do so much disaster in destroying or eating your small backyard vegetation. They are burrowing rodents which mean they can form a tunnel system into the underground to get to your plants.

Woodchuck is another term used to refer to these tiny rodents. These minute creatures are seen very active during the summer months where they spend most of their time lavishing under the heat of the sun and digging away plots, eating most of what they can find in your garden. They are also fond of ravishing your most precious flowers as their main course. They can be classified as part of those animals that stay awake in the summer and feeding themselves while hibernating in the cold months, sleeping away with little or no food at all.

In times where they are most active, it is necessary to find means and other woodchuck prevention method to make sure that they can’t get inside your property and destroy some of your yard work and plots. You better have a wise and effective strategy to protect your crops from these cunning underground rodents. There are several ways to repel them but somehow fencing would come up as the most effective method.



One way is through repellents like spraying of predator odors like coyote or fox urine within the perimeter of your property to send them away. You can also use wind chimes or some other devices which emit sounds to scare them and to let them think that there are people around the area. Another thing that you can do is build a scarecrow in your yard and attach it with streamers and some chimes to fend them off. It is advisable though, that if you use this method you have to make sure that you move the scarecrow in different locations every two or three days.

One thing that you can do to either scare them off or eradicating them permanently is to use fumigants like carbon monoxide which are emitted from car engines or some agricultural cartridges. Another chemical widely used is the aluminum phosphide which can be purchased in pellet or in tablet form. This is also available in dust or blister packs and sachets which make it possible to buy it in minimal amounts. To effectively use this inorganic phosphide it is necessary that the targeted rodents or animals (since this can be used as a pest control for other animals as well) either ingest them or inhale them. The toxins released from this chemical would eventually hinder the proper functioning of their respiratory system, thereby making it difficult for them to breathe.

If the following methods would not work for you, then you better try trapping these little underground creatures. There are now several products in the market either for live traps or kill traps that you can buy as a woodchuck prevention method. Because they are also considered game animals, shooting are allowed in some states, of course before you do this you have to make sure that laws within your locality allow such behavior and if they are, you should also have a license just to be on the safe side of the law.

Well, aside from the above mentioned woodchuck prevention methods, you can always try to just prevent them from entering the premises of your property by building up a fence. It is recommended that you use at least a 3 feet wire which slightly leans outward to prevent them from climbing it up. You should make sure that you do not cover the above area only but make sure that you have at least a foot of fencing stuck below the ground to stop them from entering your property by digging a tunnel underground. Other people also try to add live wires in the fences to really scare these woodchucks off the property. Again, if killing them is not allowed in your state you better stay clear of methods that would cause the death of these little rodents.

And no, if you want to kill a groundhog there is no effective poison that'll do it. Only lethal traps will work. Go back to the main groundhog removal page.