ground hogs

[sparky1]

get your self a black lab. Mine kills any critter in the area. only problem is she makes some hellacious holes going after them!! The only thing i see is a tail wagging out of the hole!!

[JV]

One of the boys just stopped and said when he opened the door to leave home there was a young groundhog next to the garage looking around.  When it spotted him, it stopped and looked at him.  He said it turned around and waddled toward him and the door.  Once it got to the steps, it started up to go into the house.  He had to shut the door to stop it.  He got his gun but it was gone when he opened the door again.  I guess it decided it's den was too cramped and figured it might as well have a nice roomy house or maybe mom kicked it out.  Next time he will have to invite it in, give it a couple of beers, and then take it for a ride.  DNR would probably cite him for furnishing alcohol to a minor.   :D

[gspren]

Go to www.rodenator.com and check it out!

I am surprised to not see any comments on the rodenator!

[trapper]

all these ideas and havnt heard of any results from the doc

[bugdust]

Can't buy a groundhog around these parts, coyotes done ate them all. I'm guessing I haven't seen one in 3-4 years.

[SwampDonkey]

Foxes go after them to because I've had them den in the back yard in ground hog holes.

[Al_Smith]

It takes a pretty good dog to snuff a ground hog .The smart ones just wear the whistle pig down then break it's neck with a shake .The dumb ones go for in for a frontal assault andusually  get nipped on the nose for their efforts .

It's a big deal to the folks that hunt them .They might sit 250-300 yards away from a hole with a 25:06 and scope it out for hours at a time untill they get a shot .

I never had the patience to do that .As teenager I walked the tops of box cars sitting on a siding that went through a deep cut in the banks .Ground hogs weren't smart enough to know something on top of a half mile of rail road cars might take a shot at them .60-80 yards from a 1903 Springfield got a lot of them .

[Al_Smith]

More !Ground hogs are comical .During sometime in the winter the male wakes up and surveys the situation where all the females are .Then goes and resumes his winter nap .

He remembers where all the ladies are and come early spring goes "courting " so to speak .Now if he's tardy with his actions some other male might have claimed the prize while he slept and as such the female will send him packing in short order .I mean toss him out on his ear so to speak with much grumbling .

I laughed so hard seeing this action once from my bay window I nearly soiled my skivies .

In about a month of so from now come just about dusk the little kits will be romping around like little children .Amusing to watch .

They seem to like to dug under my firewood piles .When I do gather the wood more than likely there will be hole which they will abandon .The owls are somewhat fond of young ground hog as well as the red tail hawks .

[Tim Lea]

You can use red devil lie to kill them. If you can find where they are going in and out of just pour the lie in the hole they will get it on their feet and lick it. Dead Ground hog.. smiley_hanged

[Al_Smith]

 A couple years ago a whistle pig had the bright idea to undermine my raised bed garden .With the help of a garden hose I changed his mind .Evidently brer ground hog was not equipted with a snorkel .

[sandhills]

I may have told this story here before, I used to use a grain bin on my landlords place and went over once to grind a load of corn out of it.  My little 4" auger that was stuck through the aeration tube into the bin didn't start well on its own so I had to spin the pulley to get it going, about the time I got down and got it going a big old woodchuck came trucking out of the tube about 12" from my face, my first thought was a badger and it scared the bejeisies out of me  :D.  They will destroy foundations around here but so far dad's dog seems to keep them in check  ;D.

[ArborJake]

 Why dont you just set up some speakers by the hole and play eminem all day or mabey Barbra Streisand, babs oughtta drive em out.

[WH_Conley]

That would be cruelty to animals.

[doctorb]

Results for the doc and his burrowing friends are not yet in.   I am going fishing tomorrow and figure they'll still be here when I get back.

[SwampDonkey]

I musta stepped into 3 of them holes this spring along the edge of my little brushing project in the dogwoods and birch. They had them out on the edge of my property where the sun hits along a raised bank next to the field. Nice spot for a ground hog to sun himself in the spring. But a little surprise when swinging a brush saw around. :D

[Roxie]

I've got a ground hog story too.  One summer morning, I was talking to my sister on the phone, and she started screaming about her dogs.  She had two Jack Russells, one of which was a multiple trophy winner of "go to ground" trials.  The dogs were in an enclosed kennel and were being attacked by a ground hog. 

I told my sister to call the police, and jumped in my car with my 22.  The officer and I arrived at the same time, he took a look at my gun and said, "Leave that here, because all you are going to do with that, is tick it off."   :D  We went through the house to the back deck and saw the ground hog snarling and trying to climb the kennel fence.  The dogs, were freaking out trying to get at that ground hog.  The officer stepped off the deck steps and the ground hog turned to come at him.  It took three shots to his chest to get that ground hog to drop!  He continued toward the officer raised up and hissing until the third shot. 

All three of us were shaken by the incident, and the officer bagged the ground hog for rabies testing.  He checked the rabies vaccinations of the dogs, and told my sister that under no circumstances were the dogs to be let out of the kennel until she heard from him.  The dogs were bleeding on their noses and forelegs, but we couldn't tell if the injuries were from the ground hog or caused by the kennel fence when they were trying to get at the critter. 

Within a few days, the officer stopped by my sister's to tell her that the ground hog was NOT rabid. 

[SwampDonkey]

 :D :D

Reminds me of the story of the fella that got attacked by a beaver on a bridge in BC. It's an old story and played once in awhile from the podcast. Yip it was true.

[Chuck White]

We don't see very many woodchucks in this area anymore!

When I was a young teenager, we used to walk the fields and pop at them with our .22's, it wasn't 100%, but we got a few.

I think their demise started occurring with the popularity of the 22 caliber center fire rifles!  With these, 200-300 yard shots are a lot easier!

[Al_Smith]

A 40-50 yard shot with a 22 with iron sights is not too bad now .I'm not too sure though if I could pull that off today .

Come to think of it it's been years since I even shot a 22 .

[ArborJake]

 Ive shot plenty of them with a 22.  I shoot a 220 swift out to 300 hundreds with a bi-pod. Don't always hit em but it's always close. Chuck's right I cut down the population around here but you'll never get em all.

[doctorb]

My apologies for posting this picture on two different threads (Forestry Forum Hat thread as well), but I am thrilled to have caught this lunker (6 lbs., 2 oz.) today.  So this is what I did instead of erradicating my ground hog.  I think I made the correct decision.  I'll update on the whistle pig in a few days after I savor today's moment.

[Holmes]

   NICE fish.  Did you get that in your area , what did you use for bait?

[SwampDonkey]

Fish are probably tastier than ground hog anyway.  :D :D

[doctorb]

Yep.  Caught in a reservoir about 20 minutes from my house.  Used a Zoom Baby Brush Hog (for all you non-bass fisherman, that's a type of plastic lizard artificial bait) at the end of a Carolina rig.

[WDH]

That picture was worth looking at twice!

(I mean the fish  :D).