Forum: gardening.stackexchange.com
Tags: <pest-control><pests>
Title: How do I deter a pesky groundhog from eating my vegetables?
Question: I woke to see my zucchini, yellow squash and sunflower leaves "gone". Are there any proven suggestions on how to keep groundhogs away? I do have a 3 ft chicken wire fence around my garden area. I don't know where the groundhog's home is. I have a trap set but would like some suggestions on things to spray or put on leaves or in garden.

Answers:
sents: text: No products are currently registered with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use as woodchuck repellents.
text: Studies in Connecticut have shown that some commercial deer and rabbit repellents, as well as some insecticides thought to have repellent properties, were generally ineffective at preventing woodchuck feeding on crops.
text: Predator odors may be a useful repellent for woodchucks.
text: For example, bobcat urine sprayed on the base of apple trees has been shown to reduce woodchuck gnawing by 98 percent relative to untreated trees.
text: In addition, bobcat urine used in combination with electric or rope fences reduced damage to cabbage fields in New York.
text: In this study, electric fences alone or electric fences with cloth strips sprayed with bobcat urine were nearly 100 percent effective at reducing woodchuck damage to cabbage.
text: A single-strand rope fence sprayed with bobcat urine reduced woodchuck damage by 90 percent and is a simple, low-cost approach for homeowners.
text: http://wildlifecontrol.info/pubs/Documents/Woodchucks/Woodchuck_factsheet.pdf
text: Experiment l.—Consumption of leaves of acorn and zucchini squash treated with HotSauce Animal Repellent decreased 16.2 and 20.2% respectively, relative to pretreatment levels.
text: However, these reductions were not statistically significant, and >2/3 of treated foliage was eaten (Table 1).
text: Experiment
text: 2.--Consumption of Romaine lettuce was not reduced by application of Hinder, Cygon, or Sevin (Table 2).
text: http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~rswihart/pdf/91JWM_woodchchuck%20repellents.pdf
text: It appears the best bet may be predator urine, such as bobcat.
text: I wonder if domestic cat urine in used cat litter would work?
text: There are also various recipes online containing cayenne, garlic, mustard, urine, soap, etc claiming to repel critters, but nothing that is proven to work.
text: A search around youtube revealed a news broadcast with tips on controlling groundhogs
text: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlGFcyl4J4s Note that its illegal to trap and relocate in many states.
text: Check your state laws.
answer_details: author: gardening.stackexchange.com/users/2404/Randy
score: 4
sents: text: Groundhogs are pretty easy to trap.
text: They have regular routes.
text: Sometimes, you can see the grass matted down a little where they run.
text: If not, I'd set it alongside (parallel to) the garden fence.
text: I put 6" high boards feeding into the trap opening - like a funnel.
text: No bait.
text: That said, are you sure it's a groundhog?
text: My understanding and experience is, they're not nocturnal.
text: Deer, OTOH ...
text: Though, I'd think you'd see footprints in the garden soil in that case.
text: And, a word of caution - you can catch some interesting things, esp if you leave the trap set overnight. Skunks and possums in particular.
answer_details: author: gardening.stackexchange.com/users/11429/George
score: 4
sents: text: We struggled with groundhogs at our local community garden for several years.
text: We were not able to remove them, as the land owner would not allow it.
text: We tried every solution we could find on the internet including cayenne pepper spray, creating a perimeter for the garden with ammonia and used kitty litter, shiny pinwheels and other moving objects to scare them, fences including an underground barrier.
text: We even tried feeding the groundhogs outside their burrows with discarded produce, thinking they might take the easy food and not bother getting around the fence.
text: No deal.
text: Honestly, I think removal is the best, and maybe only, option.
answer_details: author: gardening.stackexchange.com/users/1447/michelle
score: 2
sents: text: It’s crazy putting time, energy, money into garden prep & planting only to have the little critter eat leaves, blossoms and the veggies.
text: We have groundhogs.
text: Wire fencing works.
text: No rabbit fencing b/c the groundhog knows to jump above the closely spaced wire.
text: My husband watched him do this.
text: I had to hang 1/4” plastic fencing where the wider spaces started.
text: Next to solve the burrowing under the wire,cut orange snow fencing about 18” wide and lay it directly on the ground butting up to the wire fencing.
text: Use garden staples or ties to attach the bottom of the wire fence to the plastic snow fence.
text: Finally,lay weed barrier cloth on top of the plastic fencing.
text: 2 fold reason, #1 weeds wont grow up thru the plastic fencing #2
text: it’s easier to pull up for winter.
text: Well worth the effort!
text: Take that you rotten groundhog!!!!!!!
text: Good luck folks
answer_details: author: gardening.stackexchange.com/users/32444/Ann Adams
score: 2
sents: text: I am trying some substantial white, plastic mesh, bunching it around the base of the tomato plants.
text: Using 6" metal staples to hold it on the ground.
text: I think animals get tangled up in it...
text: Also, the white cloth that you can place over vegetables to keep bugs away, might work?
text: I am stapling that over new little beets and lettuce seedlings.
text: It is always something.
text: Last year,chipmunks by the dozens.
text: This year none to be seen. ?
answer_details: author: gardening.stackexchange.com/users/19579/user19579
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
Try using predator urine or a repellent like mustard, soap or garlic. You could also try putting up a wire fence.
Predator odor or predator urine, such as bobcat is an idea. There are also various recipes online which include cayenne, garlic, mustard, urine, soap and such which claim to work. Wire fencing also works, but the best option may be removal as they are easy to trap.