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Herndon, VA

A visit to my remote patch today revealed the presence of a groundhog. It managed to eat the tips of several vines, including the MAIN. I am left with only one primary vine intact. On the severed primaries, I was thinking that I could either:

A) Just bury the ends and concentrate on my good vine, or
B) Treat the last secondary off the end as a primary and continue growing.

Any suggestions? Thanks. -Bruiser

6/24/2001 10:16:16 PM

Sloughhouse, CA

Question??? What is the difference between a ground hog and what we call a gopher in California? Suzy in Sloughhouse

6/24/2001 10:40:43 PM

PORTLAND CT. USA

b ga)aaaground hog \ have a hart trap/ shot gun ........gofher the same

6/24/2001 10:56:12 PM

western Kentucky

no difference between a ground hog and a gopher.... except for spelling:)

I would treat the last secondary as the main and let the plant keep on growing.

Justin

6/24/2001 11:07:24 PM

Mid Michigan

Hahahaha....a ground hog here in Mid-Michigan is the same as a wood chuck, and a gopher is the same as a chipmunk.
Very different here. Both are destructive, but i believe the ground hog would do more damage.
Cuzbiker

6/25/2001 5:31:09 AM

Connecticut, USA

Watch out Bruiser, they will eat the pumpkins too! See the In the Patch article with Alan Reynolds. You must get rid of them. Get a Have-A-Hart trap. Or try this: find BOTH of their holes and block one of them. Next put a smoke bomb in the other end and block it. Do this at dusk after they have returned to their den.

6/25/2001 6:55:03 AM

western Kentucky

We have a trap that is like a gaint mouse trap... well sort of anyway. You set it in front of or over the whole. When the ground hog sticks it's head out it triggers the trap, and a large rod driven by really strong springs snaps thier necks. You have to be careful when setting it up though, because it could easily break your arm if you were careless. It also works on anything curious like cats, dogs, and anything else that touchs it.

If you live in the middle of nowhere then you might want to get you one of these(I am not sure what they are called). If you live in town or close to someone with kids or pets, or if you yourself have kids or pets then you might not want one of these traps. But they do work.

shotguns work also, just don't shoot them when they are beside your plant.:)

oh, and here in kentucky woodchuck=ground hog=gopher.

chipmunk=chipmunk:)

Justin

6/25/2001 12:05:41 PM

Herndon, VA

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I can really sympathise with some of the posts I have read about these in the past. They do an awful lot of damage!! I think I will try to train the last secondary is the primary...assuming I have a secondary left to train. Unfortunately I have no idea where the hole is; the patch is surrounded on all 4 sides by dense brush and tall grass so he can be just about anywhere. The patch is on a friend's property, about 5 miles away from home, so catching him in the act is very difficult. He has been spotted by the land owner who unfortunately missed with a .22 . <sigh> I may have to take a day off work to "camp out" and wait for him. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky & find him in the trap this evening. --Bruiser

6/25/2001 12:26:38 PM

Grants Pass, Oregon

Hi Bruiser- Here in Oregon we have problems with gopher also. I have found a device in K-mart or stores like this,
that you stick into the ground and it sends out vibrations that they dont seem to like. It is run off of a battery, and it seems to keep them out of my pumpkin patch as well as the front lawns. Let me know if you want any more information about this. e-mail me at [email protected]

6/25/2001 1:02:17 PM

Yukon, Canada

Suzy, in Western Canada gophers are small mammals (less than a pound at maturity) who live in colonies, I think they are more properly called ground squirrels. In Eastern Canada I never saw a gopher, there are groundhogs, which are much larger and similar to a woodchuck. You probably have the ground squirrels in the Western US and not the groundhogs. Here in the Yukon there are no groundhogs but there are arctic ground squirrels wich everyone calls gophers. It sure is interesting to read about all the different names and thoughts on different critters. I hope Bruiser is compassionate in dealing with his problem. Be it gopher or groundhog, its just trying to make a living like the rest of us. Vaughan

6/26/2001 1:46:22 AM

Indianapolis,In

I'd say shoot the thing! One thing you might try is a OWL decoy by the pumpkin plant. Another option would be find his den and set a 220 or 330 conibear trap. Check all laws if you decide to eliminate him.

6/26/2001 5:17:42 PM

Cincinnati,OH

Bill Murray had it right in the movie Caddyshak.

6/26/2001 5:30:52 PM