Comments | woodnymph12: backyard wildlife

woodnymph12

backyard wildlife

Jun 26, 2007 08:39

A groundhog has moved in to our yard! It dug a big burrow less than 10 feet from our house and we have been watching it wandering the backyard and eating a huge quantity of plants for 2 days now. (If I can get a photo that isn't blurry from the window screens, I'll post it). It's probably a young one born this year-- it's about a foot tall when ( Read more... )

Comments 8

theshapeshifter June 26 2007, 14:18:02 UTC

Oooh, that's kind of neat. If you're going to trap and relocate it, I recommend (if you can) finding a spot that's separated from your house by a river or something, to discourage it from trying to make its way back. At least, that's what we did when we were relocating raccoons (and a couple of accidentally-caught skunks).

woodnymph12 June 26 2007, 17:06:50 UTC

It is fun, at least so far. Hopefully the trapping will go smoothly. We plan to only put out the trap in the mornings and evenings (not overnight) to lessen the chances of getting a skunk. Lol. And yeah it's going to be relocated a looong way from here where it can't make its way back (near the woods where our attic-dwelling mice and flying squirrels have gone to live). :)

theshapeshifter June 26 2007, 20:08:59 UTC

The other thing with skunks is that apparently they don't like to climb ANYTHING, like not even one stair-step, so once we started putting our trap on the patio (about 6-8 inches up from the lawn) instead of right on the grass, we stopped getting the accidental skunks. But I guess groundhogs are more diurnal, aren't they? In which case morning and evening should do the trick ( ... )

woodnymph12 June 28 2007, 01:44:33 UTC

Hey, thanks for all the tips! The groundhog likes to sit on some raised beds, so we could put the trap up there, maybe. We have a friend with a pet skunk who is also giving us advice on what to do just in case, but hopefully we won't need to put any of it into practice. Our yard is waaaay too small to withstand any skunk-related accidents. :)

boobie_tassels June 27 2007, 00:00:55 UTC

Keeeeep it! Train it and make it your slave.

woodnymph12 June 28 2007, 01:39:02 UTC

Oooh, but I could use Dom for that. Besides I'd be scared it might crush my skull like a clam on its tummy!

moffel83 June 27 2007, 12:55:23 UTC

Good luck with trapping and relocating "your" groundhog. I hope it works!

woodnymph12 June 28 2007, 01:40:55 UTC

Thanks! My neighbor across the street just saw one in her yard, too. (Maybe it's the same one and has a long tunnel?)