True to their name, groundhogs are great diggers. If you want to devise a strategy to protect your garden, the first thing you need to do is understand their behavior. These animals have quite an impressive lineage and have been around since the Miocene Epoch - between 5 and 23 million years ago. They are the largest members of the squirrel family Scurida in the order Rodentia. So you know it won't be easy to outwit them.
Woodchucks are specially adapted to dig - they have short powerful legs and strong claws.
The groundhog pushes loose dirt out of the burrow with its head and chest. Consider this fact whenever the urge strikes you to fill in their burrows. They burrow into the earth to create homes that consist of a tunnel and den system. You can find an active burrow by looking for a large mound of freshly excavated soil. This earth mound is at the main entrance to their homes.