Journey Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 We're getting a pasture ready for stock and I have found 3 GH holes. So far I am filling them in with big rocks. What does anyone else do about them? I don't really want one of my dogs breaking a leg in them but I am not sure if the rocks are a good fix either. Thanks! Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Guard dogs. Woodchuck is a delicacy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooky Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 If you just block the holes, they will dig new ones. I was involved on a project where the USFWS had us "passively relocate" burrowing owls by getting rid of all the ground squirrels (smaller than woodchucks, but same deal) on 700 acres. You cannot believe what a job it is to get rid of all the ground squirrels on 700 acres of Californian annual grassland. Anyway, before we could poison the squirrels, we had to allow the burrowing owls and any CA tiger salamanders a way out of the burrows. We had to block the burrow entrances with one-way doors that would allow something to go out but not to go back in, and these things had to be in for 2 days. The ground squirrels looked at this crazy scheme and laughed and dug all new holes all over the landscape, which ALSO had to have doors in for 2 days before poisoning. I am not recommending poisoning your woodchucks (depending on state and federal regulations where you are you may even need a permit to do so). But I'm just saying if you don't want holes blocking the existing ones isn't a good solution, IMO. I might just let them be (again not knowing your landscape or stock). I did my dissertation research on prairie dog towns with cattle grazing open range on them. The cattle seemed to be able to negotiate the swiss-cheese landscape of the mounds just fine. I saw cattle stumble while running during those 4 years but never in a hole. I, on the other hand, fell in several burrows and one ground-bee nest in that same time. My advisor had been researching grazing on pdog towns for 30 years, and apparently for one paper he sent questioners from door to door to ask rancher's incidental observations about stock usage on and off the towns. The ranchers all hate the pdogs, of course, and one reason many gave was that stock break their legs falling into the holes. The follow up question to this was, have YOUR stock ever broken a leg in this manner, that you know of? And not one answered yes in the whole survey area. Many DID claim the "so-and-so" down the road had a calf that did, but no one who was actually surveyed admitted to it with their own animals. I thought that was interesting. Of course, pdogs tend to denude and raise a lot of their burrow entrances, I don't know what yours look like. California ground squirrel burrows are pretty inconspicuous, but they also seem to coexist well with the range sheep and cattle out here. Just my 2 cents-- ETA I like Bill's solution Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthfieldNick Posted February 1, 2009 Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 LGDs, or a .22. Groundhog tastes like gamey turkey. I know this because we had a serious groundhog problem in Maine when I lived there. I kept threatening to cook one for dinner if we ever got one before the dogs did. One day, I was presented with a GH that the farm owner's son had shot. So I skinned, gutted, and cooked it. Groundhog stew is pretty good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted February 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 1, 2009 Thanks everyone! I have the .22 and the LGD's will be coming when the fences are done! GH stew, could be interesting. Ooky, thanks for the info. I too am not about to poison them (interesting info on the project). My concern is mainly with the dogs running in the fields but I also know sooner or later "I" will fall into one of those holes as well.... Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Reichard Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 One day while going back to the truck from grocery shopping, I see a truck w/ a sign on it advertising that it will get rid of my groundhog problem. Now, I do have a problem this way. Some years ago, some damn woodchuck dug all the way under my barn to emerge in my feed room, where he can scrounge around to his heart's content, and I cannot get him (and his descendants by now, I'd guess) to leave. This is not a joke. There is big hole coming up in my feed room floor. It looks like the POWs are tunneling out of Stalag 13 and have ended up under my corn can. And to top it off, this particular rodent also drags things down into his hole when he leaves: buckets, shovels, large tarps, etc. As you might imagine, I am way eager to solve my problem with Col. Hogan, so I wait until the Ground Hog Killer returns to his truck so I can get some free advice. It turns out that he can't help me: he only works with groundhogs in open fields. And this is probably for the best once I discover his method: he explodes their holes by pumping down some flammable gas into the tunnels and then ignites it. (This is not a joke, either.) This is suppoesd to cure the problem permanently. What it does with your field and with your relationship with your local law enforcement, I have no idea. But it's an idea that you could consider, I guess. Tomorrow is Groundhog's Day. Honor the large rodent in your life! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trailrider Posted February 2, 2009 Report Share Posted February 2, 2009 One separate field had groundhog holes, but most of the holes were in the ravines. So I collected dog manure and shoved it down the field holes. The groundhogs left, (maybe went to the ravines or down the road), and they don`t bother me in the fields. I levelled the holes later. Then last year, along a fenceline, some new holes appeared, but not a bother. I tried dog manure and it worked again. This wouldn`t work in a 500 acre field, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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