How much could a woodchuck, chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood? About 700 pounds. Compared to beavers, groundhogs/woodchucks are not adept at moving timber, although they will chew wood. A wildlife biologist at Cornell University once measured the inside volume of a typical woodchuck burrow and estimated that — if wood filled the hole instead of dirt — the industrious animal would have chucked about 700 pounds’ worth**
I don’t know why, but when I see those little critters pop there heads out of a hole, that nursery rhyme comes to mind. Ahhhh… yes the sound of those whistles through the fields, it’s woodchuck time. They seem to be popping up all over. And if you have ever had a nuisance wildlife issue with a woodchuck, you are probably beginning to have nightmares. They are persistent, clever, diggers and your beautifully landscaped yard, or perhaps the foundations of your residential or commercial property, shed or barn are potential casualties to their intrusive digging.
At Wildlife Busters, as with most human wildlife conflict resolutions, we believe the best defense is an offense, be prepared and protect your property.
What’s the best defense for woodchucks, trench prevention. At Wildlife Busters we provide a host of trench prevention options each coming with a warranty. But for those do-it-your-selfer’s we figured we would assist and provide some professional guidance on how to do it well:
- Wildlife Busters recommends using either a ¼” to ½” black coated screen for the rat wall
- Depending upon the situation, we would dig down anywhere from 12” to 24”
- The perfect structures to protect would be surrounding decks, sheds, barns or vegetable gardens.
If it’s too late and they have begun to dig and reek havoc, then our next recommendation would be to trap and remove. Wildlife Busters has years of experience in dealing with this clever, creative nuisance wildlife – critter. We welcome the opportunity to assist you in permanently resolving your animal control or should I say woodchuck and groundhogs trapping and removal issue.
Oh yeah, and there is one more piece of advice for those experiencing human wildlife conflicts, there is more to resolving your issue then simply trapping and removing the animal. It is important to understand where and why they are getting into the location that is of concern. By understanding that element, you can modify the structure, habitat and the behavior of the human residents to permanently resolve your human wildlife conflict.
Make it a great day and week!
Jenn
INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all of your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”
Golda Meir
*Sources: College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University; Mammals of the Eastern United States, Second Edition, William J. Hamilton Jr. and John O. Whitaker Jr.
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