Posted: 8/6/2011 6:44:48 AM EDT
| I have a little bastard in the back yard, after Hurricaine Allie said it was cute, I told her that is what has been destroying the garden and could hurt her dog....shooting is out of the question, liberal neighbors and no cans in NJ...any ideas |
An alternative would be chemical warfare but that requires that you be able to fill each burrow entrance with dirt. Also, I don't know if you can get good smoke bombs in NJ. The little ones they sell at TSC are ho-hum. Overall, I find that smokes give maybe a 50% kill rate, at best. Cage trap is your best bet, IMO.
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Shooting it is out of the Question? You might consider this. If you cant find a bolt action the ubiquitous 10/22 will do nicely. Set the safety and Lock the bolt back on a 10/22. With a pair of needle nose or tweezers insert a sub-sonic/low noise CCI CB 22 short into the chamber. Release bolt, insert empty mag and wedge an empty .223/5.56 shell casing between charging handle(?) and receivers bolt cutout to keep bolt from cycling. The empty casing will snug up like it was machined for the purpose. Makes about the same crack as a common pellet rifle. Be careful of your backdrop it will penetrate about 800 pages or around 1.5" of a phone book. Fire a few rounds inside somewhere to see if it is quiet enough.
Just an option if you become exasperated. Long time lurker, my first post. I know I am a very bad man for posting this. 
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Goes without saying, so I'll say it: Be real careful if you set snares or Conibears in a space shared by the family pet.
Not arguing their effectiveness......you just don't want any unfortunate surprises. 
ETA: I should be more explicit. If you use these methods, keep Fido out the yard while they're deployed. |
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if it wasn't under my workshop I would go with some red magic boom sticks.... Feral, I may have to borrow your dog...ours is too lazy to do anything but bark.....most likely while he is lying down on the deck He killed and ate one of our turkeys today......according to Mrs. Feral you can have him. 
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| Smoke bombs work, we used feed sacks to plug up the other holes. I like the idea of a conibear but you have to make darn sure no other animals can get to it. I personally use poison. Cut an apple in half, apply the poison and throw the apple as far down the hole as you can. Woodchucks love apples. |
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I've got me alot of hate for some whistle pig.
My co worker has been using traps with cantalope rinds(he says they love them), followed by a .22lr pill. You could you get away with a subsonic .22. My dog has killed three this summer( i recommend the trap), she was bitten twice by ground hogs and bit my pig sticker once while i was finishing it off. 
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I've got me alot of hate for some whistle pig.
My co worker has been using traps with cantalope rinds(he says they love them), followed by a .22lr pill. You could you get away with a subsonic .22. My dog has killed three this summer( i recommend the trap), she was bitten twice by ground hogs and bit my pig sticker once while i was finishing it off. http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/206561_1016444537619_1420282022_39134_8820_n.jpg I have known Woodchucks that would have destroyed that little dog. |
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I've got me alot of hate for some whistle pig.
My co worker has been using traps with cantalope rinds(he says they love them), followed by a .22lr pill. You could you get away with a subsonic .22. My dog has killed three this summer( i recommend the trap), she was bitten twice by ground hogs and bit my pig sticker once while i was finishing it off. http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/206561_1016444537619_1420282022_39134_8820_n.jpg I have known Woodchucks that would have destroyed that little dog. She's 52 lbs. Dalmation mix, thats an older pic. |
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my wife has traped two so far this year. i shoot them with a single six .22 with the rounds that dont have any poweder just the primer. we have another one. also have shoot them with pelt guns. got to go for the lungs. they are a pain. they sure love eating in the garden.
stuck |
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Get a have a heart trap and be done with it. Trouble tends to be, what do you do with it after you've caught it? Especially if shooting is not an option. I guess a poisoned apple slice for trap bait immobilizes the little f***er and gives you something to bury instead of it crawling under a shed to rot. I'm a little uncomfortable with that though; if I'm going to kill something I'd rather it be quick. We relocated the pests to a secluded area. Placed trap in garbage bag to minimize flea exposure, tossed in back of SUV, started driving. You have to take them out a couple miles or else they find their way back. I probably would've ended up getting an air rifle or .22 but my husband was squeamish about it. The cats found the occupant of the Havahart trap REEEAL interesting though. 
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Get a have a heart trap and be done with it. Trouble tends to be, what do you do with it after you've caught it? Especially if shooting is not an option. I guess a poisoned apple slice for trap bait immobilizes the little f***er and gives you something to bury instead of it crawling under a shed to rot. I'm a little uncomfortable with that though; if I'm going to kill something I'd rather it be quick. We relocated the pests to a secluded area. Placed trap in garbage bag to minimize flea exposure, tossed in back of SUV, started driving. You have to take them out a couple miles or else they find their way back. I probably would've ended up getting an air rifle or .22 but my husband was squeamish about it. The cats found the occupant of the Havahart trap REEEAL interesting though. Personally, I don't have much of an issue taking a 10-15 min drive... |
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Havahart traps baited with apple slices.
I did some reading and apparently, relocating a groundhog is a death sentence for it. They're very territorial and imports usually can't carve out territory quick enough to keep from dying of starvation, predation or exposure. I've relocated four, but on careful reflection, I don't know if I've released them far enough away. One caught himself a terrible case of .22LR and was summarily flung into the bushes. Another got caught mid-morning on a day when it hit 92 and died of heat stroke. I didn't feel much sympathy - I was working in NYC that day and logged miles of walking and climbing in the same weather. The look cute from a distance, but you can quickly change opinions of wives and kids by getting up close. They're ugly, they stink, they draw flies, and they have a nasty disposition. They tend to shit in the trap and then shit again in the bed of my truck. My cousin, who will kill and eat pretty much everything that moves, only ate groundhog once. He grilled it slow and low with some wet hickory chips for smoke and a dry rub, and he still pronounced it nasty. I suggested white wine, garlic and olive oil, but he didn't seem too eager to try it again. |
| if you can get your hands on some dry ice... we used to put some in one hole and run water from the hose on it. Burry that entrance (with the running water to keep the cloud growning) then look for where it was leaking and plug them. works on a a whole mess of critters. |
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Ever hear the sound of a groundhog on the attack? I've heard it a few times this year when the dog has had one cornered. It's creepy......sounds like CLACK-a-CLACK-a-CLACK-a-CLACK and it comes from the beast snapping its teeth together as he indiscriminately tries to bite whatever is in front of him.
Hearing that sound is the absolute antidote to thinking groundhogs are cute. 
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Ever hear the sound of a groundhog on the attack? I've heard it a few times this year when the dog has had one cornered. It's creepy......sounds like CLACK-a-CLACK-a-CLACK-a-CLACK and it comes from the beast snapping its teeth together as he indiscriminately tries to bite whatever is in front of him. Hearing that sound is the absolute antidote to thinking groundhogs are cute. That's why the Havahart traps have the gauge metal plates around the handle on the top. Vicious beasts. |
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I've been having issues of my own with these little bastards and our garden. After a couple years of trying various 'nice' ways of dealing with it, I got the go for a conibear. Best $15 I've ever spent.
The one thing that's worked to my advantage is a very small yard a fence and one neighbor (townhouses) has a dog so the damn things avoid that yard at all cost. They dug one spot out that's their favorite so I just put the trap there. Caught one after two days of waiting, got another one the next day. We just got new activity so the trap has been out for two days again, we'll see. ETA: Got #3 last night. 
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