raccoonI have had a family of groundhogs living in my backyard for the last couple of years and while I certainly don’t want to hurt them, I’m not sure I want them to stay. Recently I discovered wildneighbors.org, which offers humane tips (from the Humane Society) on how to discourage every creature from raccoons to starlings from raiding your trash can or inviting extended family to live in your attic.

Wild Neighbors suggests closing off the groundhogs’ burrows with wire or tying Mylar balloons close to the ground, as the animals “can be frightened by new objects in the environment.” But my favorite suggestion? If the burrow is occupied, “harass the residents.” Now my mind really took off when I read this, as I imagined myself in Clint Eastwood-esque fashion sneering at the animals to “get off my lawn.” Or I wondered if perhaps I could annoy them away by telling them that they are chubby and funny looking and that even Punxsutawney Phil is a joke.

But no, to “harass the residents,” it turns out, means partially digging out the entrance of the burrow and clearing out all the vegetation near it, or putting something foul smelling in the burrow and then loosely sealing it off to contain the odor. To me, that seems even more cruel than berating them mercilessly. And the truth is, while I sometimes worry that the groundhogs–also known as woodchucks–carry disease, I don’t really mind them.

Moreover, though Wild Neighbors did give me some suggestions on controlling the animals, it also says, “Woodchucks may not appear useful to humans, but they have their own place and identity in the ecosystem and should be accepted—and respected—for that alone. If you have a woodchuck burrow on your property and don’t have any conflicts with its occupants we say—let it be.” Sounds good to me.

If you have a few wildlife nuisances in your yard–and chances are, now that spring is on its way, you do–I urge you to check out the Wild Neighbors website. Montclair Township also recently released a message from Montclair Animal Shelter Manager Melissa Neiss on how to discourage wildlife from turning your backyard into its own personal playground:

Keep your home in good repair and make sure all vents, pipes and chimneys are sealed with wire or grates so that animals cannot make entry. It is also important to keep your trash and recycling secured and covered so animals won’t be tempted to feast on your leftovers. Be sure to keep your property free of vegetation and overgrowth — make sure tree branches are trimmed away from the house, get rid of standing water and ensure that all outbuildings are secured and well maintained.

Neiss stresses that residents should not attempt to handle the animals themselves as “you run the risk of being exposed to diseases or bacteria but there are very specific state laws on wildlife relocation.” Instead, contact animal control.

How do you keep the pests away from your home?

Photo by Flickr/Harlequeen

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19 replies on “Get Off My Lawn”

  1. I’ve been waging war with the groundhog under my porch for years. Emptying the litter box in his entry way works for a few days, as does a gallon of Wesson oil with some habaneros in there. When the painters were here, he stayed away. I need to be more inventive this year.

  2. The lady who lives next door to me claps in an aggressive manner when the deer come into her yard or ours. This does not work, FYI.

  3. I would love to have a raccoon as a pet. If you get them very young they can be domesticated. The problem is their ‘opposable thumbs’. You’d have to ‘baby proof’ your house to make sure they didn’t start drinking the drain cleaner.

    I camped on an island in Lake George once and there was a tame raccoon that visited our campsite every night and would practically jump onto your lap to get a treat.

    The little ones are impossibly cute, especially when raiding your tomato crop with momma.

  5. JG, If you rent your under porch space to Walleroo or one of his syncophants, the ground hog will surely leave or wind up on a dinner plate.

  6. MB, good idea, I’ll have to see if ‘roo wants to spend some vacation time under my porch and if not, perhaps one of his buddies will. Or I can just invite them over for a ‘roo-tennany.

  7. Can anyone tell me how to get the smell of cat urine out of my bushes? Last year a neighborhood cat started spraying right on my boxwoods and I can’t get the smell out.

  9. Vinegar will kill the boxwoods. Use it sparingly, mix with a lot of water. And rinse with fresh water. Also mix some hydrogen peroxide and baking soda with a drop of organic soap and spray that too. Again, rinse, rinse, rinse. The vinegar and peroxide and baking soda will hurt the shrubs if left on them.

    Cats and dogs will continue to spray to mark territory which is why the smell won’t go away so keep them away. They don’t like citrus so put lots of orange and lemon peels around – and try some of the pet store sprays that keep animals away, but again, sparingly so you don’t kill the plants.

    Good luck!

  10. JG, I am going to try those ideas! I already have some castille soap from old battles of the aphids & sawfly worms. (I gave up last year and got the bug juice after the aphids ruined ALL my daylilies for two years in a row.)

    But my problem isn’t so much the urine (well… I guess I’ll know that better when it warms up – eww!) but the feces. The neighbor’s feral colony (and last night it sounded like it’s breeding season again … SIGGGHHH) uses my yard as its latrine. In the mulch, covered, not covered, and many times smack in the middle of the lawn. Yuk. I tried that shakey-powder stuff and it didn’t do any good. Lately I have been grinding red pepper flakes and mixing with flour and black pepper and shaking it all around. I don’t know if that really works because as soon as it rains it’s all gone anyway. I tried the orange peels once and they just shriveled up in the sub. And, I think someone was eating them (maybe the skunks).

    Maybe an animatronic owl?

  11. Cats like mulch. It’s like a big litter box. I would suggest one of those temporary green plastic fences. I put mine up for a month around the house where I have hosta and other plants to keep my groundhog from devouring young shoots. On the veggie garden it’s permanent chicken wire. I’m not sure cats fear animatronic owls. Especially feral ones.

  12. GG- most people think that boxwood smells like urine. That may be your problem. I have already planted enough things at your house so you are on your own.

    Hate woodchucks? I do and the bigger problem is their numbers are so high right now they are wiping out vegetation necessary to keep the honeybee population up. I have seen a chuck go after a dog and that scared the heck out of me.

    Most chucks have two holes. If you know where they both are wait until they are in the hole, bury one hole under and drop a flair in the other, wait few minutes and then bury the other hole. No more woodchuck.

  13. Problems with interlopers on your lawn? I understand that Clint Eastwood is looking for gigs. He got tired of talking to that empty chair in Tampa.

  16. Thanks Jerseygurl. I did try orange peels once, but it didn’t work. I keep seeing the same damn cat around my bushes. They do have mulch around them too. I didn’t smell it over the winter, but the smell is returning again.

  17. I had a groundhog problem – they tunneled next to the house along the foundation. A few treatments with used kitty litter did the trick. Put the litter in the hole and sealed both entrances. Haven’t seen a groundhog for months. Other ideas I have heard, but haven’t tried, involved threading a hose as far into the hole as possible and pouring vinegar or bleach down the hose. Then seal. (Though I’d be very careful if there is any vegetation nearby.)

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