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Cleveland - How to Get Rid of Groundhogs

Groundhogs belong to the Scirudiae family of rodents. This is the largest group of mammals. They are also known as woodchucks. They like to spend most of their time eating or playing in the sun when they are not in hibernation or looking after their young ones. They love tomatoes, fruits and green vegetables.

For a homeowner who has a vegetable garden, they can be a real nuisance. For this reason, homeowners with yards and gardens like to equip themselves with groundhog repellents and various other deterrents such as Cheyenne peppers and mothballs around their yards to drive them away. Homeowners and gardeners who are facing trouble from groundhogs use unique stimuli to scare these rodents away. Some people resort to lethal traps, poisons and shooting the groundhogs down. However, when there are pets and children in the house, people have to be careful about where they are placing such lethal traps for groundhogs.

Some people use Epsom salts and sprinkle them on vegetation, fruits and garden plants. These salts make the food taste foul for the groundhogs. When there is a rain shower, these salts get washed away and they need to be reapplied. Groundhogs spell much trouble for gardeners. They tend to leave clean cuts on plants they are browsing on unlike those jagged edges left on the plants by animals like deer. Particular plants can use the protection of Epsom salts or they can also be covered with fabric or those gallon-sized milk jugs with their bottoms removed. Some people use rags that are soaked in ammonia on the posts which can be placed at short distances around the garden perimeter. Ammonia odor is sufficient to drive away the groundhogs. Such rags have to be soaked in ammonia regularly as the odor fades away fast.

Once the groundhogs are successful in making their settlements under your garden or your property, it will cause several problems for you. When this happens, it is important for you to think in terms of not only driving them away from your property but also making sure that they do not return. Once the burrow entrances are closed after the groundhogs have been driven away, it is better to observe the places for few days to make sure that other groundhogs are not trying to gain access at those places.

The best way to deter groundhogs from entering your garden is to pay a regular visit and be alert on what is happening there. Long grass can be mowed regularly so that cavities or burrow entrances would be visible. Some people resort to tactics such as putting beach balls within the yards to disturb the groundhogs when they come out of their burrows. They let the beach balls to blow around in the wind besides using scarecrows, pinwheels and balloons to deter them.

The most effective way to deter groundhogs is by taking proper preventive measures through building a wire fence around the garden perimeter. The fence has to be at least four feet in its height and it has to be buries at least a foot under the ground. Groundhogs are expert diggers and they have no difficulty going under a fence that has not been dug in deep enough into the ground. The fence cannot be pulled taut; it has to be built loose as it makes it difficult for the groundhogs to climb it.

Some of the effective ways of driving away the groundhogs are removal of ground cover around the burrow areas and digging out the entrances partially. Rags that are soaked in ammonia can be placed near the entrance of the burrows. The odor will drive them away. It is advisable not to use heavy toxic substances such as gasoline to get the groundhogs to come out of their burrows. Toxic substances will not be ideal for you, your children and your pets in the house.

There are groundhog repellents available in the market but they are found not to be very effective as deterrents. Poisoning them could be illegal as per local laws. It is possible that groundhogs may not die instantly after consuming poisons; they could only be made ill and can lead to secondary poisoning of domestic pets or other types of scavengers.

Traps are an effective method of getting rid of groundhogs. That is how we provide our Cleveland groundhog removal services. They can be trapped in wired cages that can be strategically placed at the entrance of the main burrows or in their travel path. Fruits and vegetables can serve as good baits. Once they are caught, they can be released and relocated a few miles away from your property.

Exclusion fencing will help protect the homeowners against a potential damage that can be caused by groundhogs. As they are good climbers, the fence has to be high and it has to be made out of strong chicken wire or mesh that is at least a couple of inches thick. All crevices, holes and cracks have to be securely blocked up so that the groundhogs do not burrow under porches, sheds and walkways. These areas need to be checked on a regular basis to prevent tunneling from groundhogs.

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