Tuesday, June 19, 2007

Groundhog Day



We have groundhogs in our backyard. It started with one, but now there are babies (see the photo).

Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, are marmots; their scientific name is Marmota monax.

While I enjoy seeing them, my wife is not so happy that they are eating up the garden.

When the babies get a little older, we'll try to trap them with a live trap and relocate them.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I just recently discovered a groundhog in my back yard. It is living under my shed. I have children and i'm worried because they can't play while it is out. I called the animal warden to see if they can come and get it and re-locate the animal. They said as long as it's not ill that they can not do anything about it. What can I do in order to have someone pick it up. I don't want it to be killed but just re-located.

Jeffrey Shallit said...

Get yourself a live trap at Walmart. Bait it with beans inside the trap and in a line outside the trap. When you trap the groundhog (it may take a while), cover the back of your car with lots of newspapers and take the trap to a local natural area and release it.

Alternatively, look up "pest control" in your local phonebook.