How do you keep groundhogs out of your garden?

Question

I just discovered the culprit that has been eating my pea plants...a groundhog. Any ideas how to keep him away (and no, I'm not shooting him, or getting a dog)

Answer 1

There is a product I bought a couple of years ago for my parents at Wal-Mart. It comes in a green bottle that attaches to your hose. I bought it for armadillos but I'm pretty sure it is marketed for ground hogs, too. Sorry, I can't remember the name of it, but it was a repellent and not a poison. You can buy poison peanuts, or trap them if you are not opposed to killing them. But, with the peanuts you have to worry about pets and children getting them and with the traps you have to deal with the carcasses. Not much help, with no name for the product. Sorry, again.

Answer 2

Check with your local animal control and see if they loan out Have-A-Heart traps.  If they don't you can buy one at a store like Tractor Supply Company or Southern States.

Groundhogs are territorial and need to be re-located.  If you don't move them far enough away they will just come back to their burrow.  Once you've removed him you need to find the burrow and fill it in or block off the entrace.  A vacant groundhog burrow just invites other groundhogs to move in.

Answer 3

I had to resort to raised beds with heavy plastic bottoms and a 1" x 1" wooden frame on the bed covered with chicken wire.  The beds were made from 1'  X 12' planks and a spraying of the bed with canola oil and Cayenne pepper kept them away.  

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