Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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June 5, 2018 | #16 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Den of Drunken Fools
Posts: 38,539
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A groundhog is a marmot as well as the prairie dog and other related ground squirrels.
It is thought that this is where the original black death came from in areas of Asia from fleas on marmots ending up on rats and then people. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yersinia_pestis Worth |
June 5, 2018 | #17 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Wichita Falls, Texas
Posts: 4,832
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Quote:
Not quite. A ground hog is in the marmot genus, as Groundhog, woodchuck, or whistlepig, M. monax found in most of North America, but prairie dogs are in the family Prairie dogs (genus Cynomys), which has 5 species. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmot https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prairie_dog |
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June 5, 2018 | #18 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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Bjbebs-I just use the plain cage-type with the spring loaded door. I put them on the ground hog's path to my garden, baited with carrots. They get caught easily. The biggest problems with these traps are: 1.) raccoons often get caught instead, and 2.) when I'm done, I have a live ground hog to get rid of.
You're right about either fence or feed 'em. They're worse than deer in that deer are picky. Ground hogs will eat almost anything. Nan |
June 5, 2018 | #19 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New Castle, Virginia
Posts: 205
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Quote:
I have effectively used smoke bombs in the past, but all of the burrows are on neighbors property and they will not let me kill them. |
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June 5, 2018 | #20 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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The burrows here are on the neighbor's property, too. I put up the deer fence and they dug under, so I dug a trench at the fence line & sunk a low fence down into the ground. Not very deep, just 2-6", but it's enough to discourage the 'hogs. Also my fence is surrounded by weeds on the outside making it harder for them to dig through the roots to go under. (Yeah, that's why I have weeds there...) At the gate, I laid deer fence on the ground so they can't dig under that part. It's now pressed into the dirt so we don't trip over it.
Nan |
June 5, 2018 | #21 | |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: New Castle, Virginia
Posts: 205
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June 5, 2018 | #22 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2014
Location: illinois
Posts: 281
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I too do not fence and grow enough to share to a point. Unfortunately they don't play fair. At the first sighting, they're fair game.
For those that do use fencing remember groundhogs are excellent climbers. I've seen them go up a tree many times. Not sure how they would approach a floppy wire fence |
June 5, 2018 | #23 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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They haven't climbed my 8' deer fence...yet.
Nan |
June 5, 2018 | #24 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Near Philadelphia, PA
Posts: 1,940
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I have an electric fence hot wire I can run along the top if they get ideas. It was the year they got in an ate all my heirloom bean varieties that I got serious about perimeter control. It wasn't inexpensive or easy.
Yes, the problem with live traps is that when you catch one you have to do something with it, and I don't want to pass problems on to others! |
June 6, 2018 | #25 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: ohio
Posts: 4,350
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thank you. Here in Ohio it is actually not permitted to "pass along" nuisance animals yet people do it all the time... grrr! you must have permission of the land owner to do so, except for raccoons... you must kill them. that helps prevent the spread of rabies.
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carolyn k |
June 6, 2018 | #26 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Saylorsburg, PA
Posts: 261
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I have used this system for years after a local trapper helped me get rid of groundhogs. The first summer I used this kind of trap we caught 13 groundhogs! Last summer it was 12. They are quick and more merciful than the old leg traps we used to have. Shooting is too risky because you never know where a bullet might ricochet off of since the hogs are often next to our outbuildings when spotted. These are not for the faint of heart but they work and using the tool to set them makes it easier since the spring is hard and the tool gives you the leverage. We use the same hole over and over as groundhogs are attracted to the smell of previous groundhogs. Reusing a hole prevents having to search for the new ones which may be in an awkward site to get to easily.
Check out this site if you are not opposed to a final solution but don’t want to shoot or cart them off to torment a neighbor down the road! http://www.setngotrapper.com/ |
June 6, 2018 | #27 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: SE PA
Posts: 961
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Groundhogs in the garden are serious. We usually get 1-2 young a year when mama chases them out of the den. The nearest farm field is a scant 200 yds and we have a pear tree heavy with fruit then, in late July or August. They need to be taken care of, as they are more destructive than anything else to a garden. They will get in your squash patch and take one bite from each and every butternut until they find one they like. Of course, they won't like the taste of any, and so will ruin them all.
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June 6, 2018 | #28 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: May 2013
Location: New Mexico
Posts: 2,051
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I ran across this solar powered pest repellent. I have no idea if it is effective but I thought of this thread when I saw it.
https://www.solarfairyledlight.com/p...-pest-repeller |
June 6, 2018 | #29 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Posts: 3,194
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Has anyone had those sonic things work?
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June 6, 2018 | #30 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: NJ z5
Posts: 281
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I have no experience with that particular model, but I did try something similar to this in my basement:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZIy0lRxvPY It was worthless. Every spring, I use live catch traps for my groundhogs. I then relocate the rodents, and I am usually good until next spring. I find that relocating them 4 to 6 inches is ideal, providing you go in the proper direction. Be sure to either close, or lock open, your traps before sundown; it is a nuisance to have to deal with non-target critters in the morning, like skunks or possums. Jim |
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