Tell me about GroundHogs

[dnwong]

Saw one it the yard a few weeks back and then the past weekend notice this hole under the basement slab. He even chewed through a section of drain pipe.

I have a trap by the opening for the past two days and still have not caught him?

Did he leave?
Did he already go to hibernation?

How do I fix the damage under the basement floor?

Where is all the dirt that he burrowed through? Did he just eat it??

[N0tt0N]

Drive around the house at 120 and HE will find YOU

[HoodPin]

A friend of mine had one under the shed in his back yard. One day it purportedly killed a young cat of theirs. So my friend sat on the deck one evening, sipping a glass of wine, while he waited for it to come out from under the shed. When it did.......he shot it.

[Der ABT]

They like morning and just before sunset most......only other times they come out are when your not looking or when the gun is not within reach so they stretch put aND tempt you.

Dogs at the farm take care of them every so often...otherwise gotta wait em out, you can buy smoke grenades to wait for em but not sure I'd do that below a house

[trytryagain]

They like to have two entry/exit holes. See if you can find another hole and try the trap there.

If that drainpipe was anything important then you may be doing some big time excavation work to repair it.

if you don't need to excavate, at least dump some concrete into the holes to make it harder for the next tenant to move in.

It could be worse. (Skunk)

[BlackTalon]

I understand they make passable chili.

(i.e., it passes through you at 100 mph)

[forklift]

see my avatar. 12 ga =

[Chopper Dropper]

Guy that used to work with me in his "off time" used a AK 47, hunting groundhogs where ever he could get permission from farmers.
Dirk

[edevinney]

They are wily and destructive little bastiges. There is definitely a second opening to that hole, and filling it up without closing the other end is a waste of time. Groundhogs do hibernate, but won't do so for a month or two. They have very good senses and can be hard to get a sight on, but do come out in the morning and evening to browse for greens to eat. A 12ga or AK would be satisfying but overkill - pistol-caliber shots hell's and CB long .22 both work very well. The CBs are pretty quiet from a rifle-length barrel, too.

I have tried filling the hole with the body of the recently-deceased occupant. It was satisfying but ineffective: next year I found a groundhog skull in the dirt pushed out by the new owner of the hole...

[dnwong]

They like to have two entry/exit holes. See if you can find another hole and try the trap there.

If that drainpipe was anything important then you may be doing some big time excavation work to repair it.

if you don't need to excavate, at least dump some concrete into the holes to make it harder for the next tenant to move in.

It could be worse. (Skunk)

I think the drainpipe is to collect water near the foundation and route it to the sump pump in the basement. Its the light corrugated stuff. Probably ok to concret it back in.

[dnwong]

I expected to have a foundation wall or footer under the edge of basement slab. So, did the he eat his way through the concrete?

I am guessing this must be his exit point or the second hole. He must have came up and hit the concrete slab and then worked his way out through the black pipe and footer.

So, need to figure out how to fill the tunnels after ridding the critter. Is there companies that do that? I would like to get someone with a scope on a snake (like plumbers use) and see how much of it is under the house and them pump a filler back in there.

[Vicegrip]

I think the drainpipe is to collect water near the foundation and route it to the sump pump in the basement. Its the light corrugated stuff. Probably ok to concret it back in.I sure hope that is not the case. Gathering water along the outside of a foundation and moving it away from the building not into it is SOP. Could that be a downspout drain from an uphill side of the house?

Peanut butter makes a great bait. Most critters like it regardless of what they normally eat for a living. Have you seen the critter? A black plastic french drain pipe is a bit small for a Groundhog but just right for a rat and rats dig too. Think of a groundhog as a beaver with a different tail and no chainsaw teeth but about the same smarts* and size. Rats are real smart and hard to trap but they do eat rat baits. Might be worth getting some Tomcat rodent bait and a bait box from home depot. I have access to pro only products and still use inexpensive over the counter Tomcat.

*For some reason the ones around race tracks are not so smart and evolution has not had a chance to improve their car smarts just yet. I watched one go well out of his way running at top speed back and forth just so he could almost get hit by at least 3 cars between 9 and 10. There used to be one that hung out on the inside of the Chute for most of one summer. He sat on his haunches scratching his belly and bits calmly watching the cars go down the hill.

[chillindrdude]

Let me know if you have a large enough property, but I have a suppressed .45 handgun that will take care of that quietly.

[somdcroc]

*For some reason the ones around race tracks are not so smart and evolution has not had a chance to improve their car smarts just yet. I watched one go well out of his way running at top speed back and forth just so he could almost get hit by at least 3 cars between 9 and 10. There used to be one that hung out on the inside of the Chute for most of one summer. He sat on his haunches scratching his belly and bits calmly watching the cars go down the hill.

I saw my first ground hog at VIR this past weekend (between the esses and southbend) on the curbing. I thought for sure the car in front of me would hit it but missed it by what seemed less than a few inches. (perhaps the silver BMW that kept going into the infield scared it to the edge of the track) Other than geese I have never seen animals and certainly not a ground hog at VIR so I'll assume it hitched a ride in BMAN's trailer from Summit Point .

[dnwong]

I sure hope that is not the case. Gathering water along the outside of a foundation and moving it away from the building not into it is SOP. Could that be a downspout drain from an uphill side of the house?

Peanut butter makes a great bait. Most critters like it regardless of what they normally eat for a living. Have you seen the critter? A black plastic french drain pipe is a bit small for a Groundhog but just right for a rat and rats dig too. Think of a groundhog as a beaver with a different tail and no chainsaw teeth but about the same smarts* and size. Rats are real smart and hard to trap but they do eat rat baits. Might be worth getting some Tomcat rodent bait and a bait box from home depot. I have access to pro only products and still use inexpensive over the counter Tomcat.

*For some reason the ones around race tracks are not so smart and evolution has not had a chance to improve their car smarts just yet. I watched one go well out of his way running at top speed back and forth just so he could almost get hit by at least 3 cars between 9 and 10. There used to be one that hung out on the inside of the Chute for most of one summer. He sat on his haunches scratching his belly and bits calmly watching the cars go down the hill.
I am thinking its the drain pipe running inside the foundation and under the slab that is going to the sump.

Yes, we saw him twice in the past month. Did not know he was planning to stay.:grrr:

[dnwong]

Let me know if you have a large enough property, but I have a suppressed .45 handgun that will take care of that quietly.

I have high fenced partially wooded 1/2 acre and no visiable neighbors. Have not seen him lately.

I took a part of the fence down when I was doing my addition this year and there still is a 10' section without a fence. Maybe that is how he has been getting into the yard....

[dnwong]

I called the county and they are going to send an inspector out to see why there is not a deep footer or stem wall under the edge of the slab. They said there should not be a easy way for animals to get under your house unless something was not done right.

[cmartin]

Good luck, I wouldnt want an inspector poking around my place. Might actually prefer the groundhog.

[BlackTalon]

I sure hope that is not the case. Gathering water along the outside of a foundation and moving it away from the building not into it is SOP. Could that be a downspout drain from an uphill side of the house?
Sadly some of the local jurisdictions require you to do this. Alexandria forced me to pipe the foundation drain system on the addition to an interior sump pump and would not let me connect it to the original foundation drain system (which drains to the storm sewer by gravity). All attempts to make them see the potential for basement flooding with the sump requirement fell on deaf ears.

[HoodPin]

Sadly some of the local jurisdictions require you to do this. Alexandria forced me to pipe the foundation drain system on the addition to an interior sump pump and would not let me connect it to the original foundation drain system (which drains to the storm sewer by gravity). All attempts to make them see the potential for basement flooding with the sump requirement fell on deaf ears.

What would happen if you piped the sump pump's discharge into the street? :cool:

[BlackTalon]

What would happen if you piped the sump pump's discharge into the street? :cool:I would lose weight, as I would probably have to pay a contractor a few thousand dollars to trench and run piping so my wallet would be a lot lighter.

Would not solve anything though, as it still brings the water into the house before it gets ejected out.