Have a ghog under my porch...

[Back_Roads]

I was trying to avoid using a trap.  There's also a pretty large skunk around.  I really don't like the idea of catching a skunk, although the skunk is digging up my lawn.  Can you spray the trap afterwards with something to destink them?

That trap goes for $120? or so?  Does yours have dual doors?  It looks like it.  What was the bait?  I have no plans to "resettle or release" the groundhog.

Yes trap is 2 door fast back" lol , I used an apple half and some wild bird seed mix, good chance a skunk would pass on that bait and go for a mouse or grub. Was an early am catch. Trap set along where I saw him run along the barn doors.

[WobblyHand]

After not seeing the ghog for nearly a week, my wife reported seeing it running at breakneck speed towards her and diving under the porch.  This was at 2:30pm.  She happened to be on the porch, and was glad the screen door was closed.  She said it looked enormous, but I don't know how to gauge that.  But I'd imagine he's fattening up for the winter.  Think it's pretty amazing that he can even fit through the opening as it isn't all that big.  Might try to temporarily block that opening to force him a longer way around.

I bought a 2 door trap.  I think I will have to figure it out tomorrow and set it up.  Have to get him.

[WobblyHand]

Man this guy is torturing me.  Saw him today twice.  Around 1:30pm.  Came out to eat some grass.  I went out on the roof and he heard the door and tucked into the bushes and disappeared.  Then I saw him come out again about 20 minutes later.  He's bigger now.  This time I got onto the roof undetected.  But he looked up again and scurried back to his lair.  I waited for another hour on the hot roof and no ground hog. 

I need to install some hardware cloth to make it harder for the ghog to dive under the porch.  What I am trying to do is to give him only one path in and out.  Then I will set up a trap in that path. 

Of course buying anything these days is a pain, no one seems to have normal stuff in stock.  Ace can order it, Lowes didn't have any in stock either. Home Depot has some but their prices are 2X greater than everyone else, it's criminal.  Tractor Supply has some in stock, so that's where I will go.

[WhatUPSbox?]

Good luck.
I've taken out a handful of the dumb (greedy?) rats in the yard, but the trailcam shows two more smarter models that seem to say "game on!"
You may have the smarter model ghog.

[WobblyHand]

My friends at Tractor Supply had the hardware cloth, so I bought it.  But they didn't have the hardware that I needed, or it was way more than I wanted to spend.  The lag bolts were fine, but the dumb washers were almost $1 each.  So off to another store tomorrow.  McMaster sells 50 for $5.67, so 10-11 cents each.  Have to think the local HW store can do better than $1 each.

I had a great shot of that ghog, twice, if I wanted to replace two windows and a screen.  Darn thing was sitting on my steps looking out at the yard.  I could see the back of it's head.  But I chose not to destroy the windows in two doors and a screen door.  This dude is crafty.

[WobblyHand]

Tried to block the ghog from being able to dive under the porch with some stones covering the crack, but I couldn't cover the whole crack.  Not more than 20 minutes later, I saw him coming from the garden area and diving through the smaller crack that I hadn't blocked.  I left the side area unblocked, because I was trying to make him become more comfortable entering and exiting that way.

And that is where I set the trap.  I baited it with some green beans, which I know he's been eating, and some cantaloupe.  I left around 11am.  At about 5pm I came home and the trap was untriggered.  But at 5:30pm, well, the trap contained my friend, the ground hog.  Now, I'm going to admit I wasn't sporting, but he got a taste of lead right between the eyes, 28.4 grains and 36 FPE worth.  One round.  Didn't feel too good about it, but hey, that guy had been eating everything around here and really dug up a ton of dirt.  I've been trying to get rid of him for a while now.  So that guy is taken care of.  Well almost, I have to empty the trap...  It's raining now, so I'll wait a little. 

Probably won't post the photo here, that shot wasn't hunting.  Just another dead pest of the day.  A very wily pest.  Who knows, there may be more of them...

[brewbear]

All's well that ends well.... not so well for the ghog but your garden (whatever is left of it) is safe.... for now.

[Back_Roads]

 Main thing is you got that big rodent and ready for the next one if they do not get the memo.

[WobblyHand]

Main thing is you got that big rodent and ready for the next one if they do not get the memo.

Glad you mentioned traps, I don't know why I didn't think of that.  Caught him on the first day of setting out the trap.  Had been putting that off in hopes of getting a shot. 

Definitely a juvenile, but still was big enough to cause a lot of damage.  I was having a "bad" day today, having come home with a splitting headache.  Catching that big toothed rodent made the day seem a lot brighter.    Unfortunately, trash day was this morning, so he's going to be fermenting in the can for a week .  Double bagged him, so nosy folks wouldn't see the mess.

One down.  Hope there's no more, but I'm ready.

[ranchibi]

Congrats on trapping and, well, taking care of business! They surely can do a lot of damage! Job well done 👍

[Tater]

Congrats! That one had been causing you trouble for quite a while.

[only1harry]

Congrats Bruce!  It's not easy to trap Ghogs and using the same food he 's been stealing was smart.  I knew you 'd get him.  You were determined and persistent and accomplished the job.

I am pretty sure you have at least 1 other one out there of the opposite sex.  He/she will come sniffing around looking for their partner and will stop to visit the garden.  They always check on each other periodically even though they may not be mating now (not until Feb-March).  Have the ding donger(s) ready and be on the lookout to see which way they go or exit the garden.

Harry

[WobblyHand]

Congrats Bruce!  It's not easy to trap Ghogs and using the same food he 's been stealing was smart.  I knew you 'd get him.  You were determined and persistent and accomplished the job.

I am pretty sure you have at least 1 other one out there of the opposite sex.  He/she will come sniffing around looking for their partner and will stop to visit the garden.  They always check on each other periodically even though they may not be mating now (not until Feb-March).  Have the ding donger(s) ready and be on the lookout to see which way they go or exit the garden.

Harry

Oof, was hoping you wouldn't say there's more, but most likely.  I'll turn on the ding dong again.  We'll see if there's more activity.

Double door trap for the win.  Definitely gave me a lot of trouble, getting it with it's irregular schedule. 

Getting up before dawn also revealed a very large skunk tearing up the turf.  Was dreading catching that by accident.  Would have stunk up our porch for a long time.  Not sure how to take care of that with minimum stink.

[ranchibi]

Well Bruce, if you have more like Harry said, you just might get a shot on one that is less skittish!

[WobblyHand]

Well Bruce, if you have more like Harry said, you just might get a shot on one that is less skittish!

Yes, that's looking on the bright side! 

Ding dong is operational, haven't heard anything today.  Is that good or bad? 

[Birdhunter]

My wife loves the birds so we have a lot of activity from skunks, possums, and raccoons. I shot several possums and one skunk. Unfortunately, the skunk did a death crawl under my shed. Went home the next day and pulled her out with some grippers on a handle. That was a year and a half ago and the shed still smells bad! The next night, I had 5 skunks in the yard. We are in a state that requires you to have a license to live trap animals so we called a professional. They have a trap that is opaque so that when they catch a skunk, it doesn't see them coming toward the trap. Alternatively, you could put an old rug or blanket on it except for the opening. When they caught the skunks, they put a garbage bag over the trap, tied it up and poked a little hole in the bag. They squirted a little ether in the bag and covered the hole with masking tape, waited a few minutes and then sprayed quite a bit more ether into finish him off. That is how they keep them from spraying. I have a skunk in the yard every night and could easily shoot him with the Prod, but don't want to have the spraying again. From what I have read, there is no guarantee that a head shot or heart lung shot will keep them from spraying. Since you have the trap, might want to research the bag and ether method.I might have to apply for a license............................. Good Luck!

[WobblyHand]

My wife loves the birds so we have a lot of activity from skunks, possums, and raccoons. I shot several possums and one skunk. Unfortunately, the skunk did a death crawl under my shed. Went home the next day and pulled her out with some grippers on a handle. That was a year and a half ago and the shed still smells bad! The next night, I had 5 skunks in the yard. We are in a state that requires you to have a license to live trap animals so we called a professional. They have a trap that is opaque so that when they catch a skunk, it doesn't see them coming toward the trap. Alternatively, you could put an old rug or blanket on it except for the opening. When they caught the skunks, they put a garbage bag over the trap, tied it up and poked a little hole in the bag. They squirted a little ether in the bag and covered the hole with masking tape, waited a few minutes and then sprayed quite a bit more ether into finish him off. That is how they keep them from spraying. I have a skunk in the yard every night and could easily shoot him with the Prod, but don't want to have the spraying again. From what I have read, there is no guarantee that a head shot or heart lung shot will keep them from spraying. Since you have the trap, might want to research the bag and ether method.I might have to apply for a license............................. Good Luck!

I know very well the smell.  Dumped a triple bagged skunk carcass into our trash.  It's been nearly two years and it still smells.  But it's not as bad as it was 6 months ago.  I had accidentally caught it in a squirrel trap that I left out overnight.  Won't do that again.  It killed the skunk and it sprayed everywhere.  Fortunately it was away from the house.  Interesting idea about the ether.  Used to have some, but no more.  You need a really good container for it, as it readily escapes, even through a rubber stopper in a metal can.  Suppose I could find some starting fluid, think it is still ether.

That skunk I saw was pretty large, but it was well before dawn when it was out, so unless I had an IR scope, I wouldn't even attempt a shot as it would be wishful thinking.

[ranchibi]

Well Bruce, one of my bucket list things to do is take a ghog with my air rifle, so, to me it may be a good thing...😂👍...for you, maybe! LOL!

[only1harry]

Well Bruce, if you have more like Harry said, you just might get a shot on one that is less skittish!

Yes, that's looking on the bright side! 

Ding dong is operational, haven't heard anything today.  Is that good or bad? 

That's a good sign, at least for now.  Their partners do not hang around long after they realize their mate (or sibling/buddy) is gone for good.  They leave and go in search of other Ghogs.  Once they find others they will burrow close to them in hopes to mate in late winter/early Spring.  He/she might come back from time to time to feed in your garden if not too far away, but they are preparing to hibernate now so the chances of seeing another before Spring are slim. 

There is a high probability though that you will have another visitor in the Spring/summer.  Also a female might bring her young to your property in May to leave them there and help them with the burrow, or settle there to give birth.  A female Ghog abandons her young when they are 4-5 weeks old, but first she leads them away from other Ghogs, and also a good distance from her and the adult male to avoid inbreeding, but also so they don't get harassed and beat up by bigger Ghogs.  I have seen bigger ones attack, bite and claw little ones and terrorize them (in my yard) when they discover them.  One time it looked like a yearling was trying to mate with a little one 1/3rd his size and was chasing it all around.

So anyway I think you are good for now, but next year might be a different story since we know your neighborhood has Ghogs, and where there is one, there is always more not far away.

Harry

[WobblyHand]

Surprisingly, my garden is recovering.  And so are my wife's flowers.  For the first time, they are growing and flowering instead of being eaten to the ground.  Pity, it's the end of the season.  I even got some more green beans, as we are zooming into fall.  If there's any ghogs left, they are being discrete in their eating habits.  Fine with me.

I still have the trap - it paid for itself this year.  Next year it's free.

Now to get rid of that skunk...