| tart --> | | | | elaborate tunnel systems. They will have two holes |
| Picture in your mind a hand-planted tomato plant that | | | | to use (sort of a front door - back door system) |
| is bearing fruit. Only a day or two of ripening | | | | and will usually wear paths in the ground cover |
| separates you from the delicious fruits of your labor. | | | | leading toward the holes. These paths can be very |
| As you inspect your plant the next morning you | | | | important to the Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator |
| notice that your tomatoes all have bites taken out of | | | | (as he likes to be called.) Many times a live trap might |
| them! Chances are good that you have been visited | | | | be set directly over a hole or in one of these wear |
| by a woodchuck. | | | | paths. |
| Now what do you do? This guy has got to go! | | | | The wildlife control professional will set the traps in |
| If you do not care to tackle this project on your | | | | the most beneficial spots. Feel free to talk with him |
| own, check for local businesses that deal with | | | | about trap placement but keep in mind that he's |
| nuisance wildlife control. You will usually find them | | | | trapped hundreds of woodchucks. Once the traps |
| under Pest Control or Animal Damage in the yellow | | | | are set, do not "rethink" the situation and move his |
| pages. Most businesses charge a fee for setting the | | | | traps to a different spot. Another big "No-No" is to |
| traps and then a fee for each animal that they trap. | | | | add food to the trap to enhance his bait selection. |
| Be sure to discuss with them the possibility of | | | | The baits and lures that he uses are proven winners. |
| non-target catches and what their policies are on | | | | Keep in mind that there are scents and lures and oils |
| payment. A reputable company will target only the | | | | on most of the baits. That thing that looks like a |
| woodchucks and not require payment for other | | | | simple cabbage leaf in the trap is actually an odiferous |
| animals that they might catch and release. Some | | | | smorgasbord for woodchucks. |
| homeowners opt to rid their yards and gardens of | | | | Once the trap is set, the woodchuck can be |
| any animal that will come onto the premises. If that is | | | | expected only during the daylight hours. I recommend |
| the case, let your pocketbook be your guide. | | | | springing the trap (closing the door) at dusk. |
| Woodchucks can be effectively trapped and | | | | Woodchucks sleep at night just like we do. Skunks, |
| removed from the area. Live traps measuring | | | | raccoons, cats, opossums, and a few other animals |
| 10x12x36 inches are perfect for the task. Most | | | | would be happy to sample your bait during the night. |
| trappers use one-door traps that are very sturdy, as | | | | Reset the trap in the morning. Make sure that the |
| woodchucks are formidable when trapped and will try | | | | wildlife control professional that you hired is in |
| very hard to escape. | | | | agreement that you should do this. |
| Remember the old poem "How much wood could a | | | | Will a woodchuck bite? Are they aggressive? Are |
| woodchuck chuck...?" The truth is that woodchucks | | | | they mean? YES they will, yes they are. ANY |
| (also known as "groundhogs") don't care too much | | | | trapped animal will bite and be aggressive. They are |
| for wood but they absolutely love fruits and | | | | scared and in an environment they have never been |
| vegetables. Flowers rank right up there on a | | | | in. Do not try to pet the trapped animal. And don't |
| woodchuck' menu as well. Many a flower garden has | | | | feed it or give it water. If it is hot and sunny, you |
| been decimated by a hungry woodchuck. | | | | may want to throw an expendable towel over the |
| It seems so simple to take a live trap and throw | | | | trap to provide the woodchuck with some cover. |
| some bait into the back of it and catch a woodchuck. | | | | Once the woodchuck is in the wildlife control |
| Don't be taken in with simplicities. Woodchucks can | | | | professional's truck, fill in the holes at the den |
| be trapped but so can every other animal that | | | | entrances. If there are more woodchucks, they will |
| wanders through your backyard! It is wise to take a | | | | open the holes again and you will know that you |
| few minutes to understand the woodchuck so it can | | | | need another trap. If you are absolutely positive that |
| be targeted instead of the local skunk family. | | | | that was the only woodchuck in the area, FILL IN |
| Woodchucks wake up from their hibernation state in | | | | THE HOLES! Otherwise you are asking for the |
| late March or April. Mating takes place right away. A | | | | wandering skunk to decide that he has found a new |
| month later the females bear about five baby | | | | home. |
| woodchucks. The litter can be as high as nine babies. | | | | What if you think there might already be a skunk? |
| These babies stay in the underground den for the | | | | That's another article! |
| first four or five weeks. After that they are fully | | | | Here is a picture of one of the many woodchucks |
| active and can be seen straying farther and farther | | | | that I have trapped in Genesee County, Michigan. |
| from the den's entrance. After about the sixth week | | | | Enjoy your gardens, your flowerbeds, and the time |
| of life they are chased out by the mother and | | | | spent caring for them. Don't let woodchucks spoil it |
| forced to strike out on their own. | | | | for you. Now you have the information to take care |
| Woodchucks dig their dens in the ground and use | | | | of the situation. |