Hello! And happy return to real winter! Oh, that darned Punxsutawney Phil just had to give us 6 more weeks of winter! And all of you snow bunnies out there can stoop your effective snow dances. You really did dance up quite a snowstorm earlier this week. And it just had to fall all in one day. Oh well, life in the North Country – gotta love it. Thank you, Snow Bunnies! Thank you, Punxsutawney Phil.

Now last week we went on and on extolling all of the accomplishments of Punxsutawney Phil – that humble hungry rodent. Let’s continue looking at some of Punxsutawney Phil’s not so illustrious brothers and sisters. After all, it is the absence of Punxsutawney Phil’s shadow that predicts an early spring, an early start to the gardening season. And it is his relatives’ presence in your garden in spring that could very well mean the end to that garden in spring.

The ground hog, otherwise known as woodchuck, is a North American marmot, a ground dwelling member of the squirrel family. So that makes Punxsutawney Phil and all of his fuzzy family bona fide, card-carrying members of the rodent family. These voracious vegetarians are always very unwelcome visitors to every garden.

The typical ground hog will dig burrows some 60 feet long and 5 feet beneath the ground. And he’s a smart one; his extensive tunneling system has numerous exits. That chuck will awaken from his hibernation snooze in March, find a mate, and then help raise a family of 4-5 young. Then the whole family will hunker down, and munch down on you young garden. They’ll pull out your young plants and transplants, and then start eating the older vegetation. And, to irritate even the most patient gardener, they’ll take a little nibble here, a little nibble there from those veggies, thus ruining whatever was not pulled out. So – yes – garden here today – gone tomorrow!

Ground hogs feast on alfalfa, beans, carrots, grass, sweet corn, weeds, and just about anything and everything else that’s green. Fussy eaters – they are not!

So, if woodchucks have been a problem in your garden in past years, then take the time now, while they are still sleeping to plot and plan your chuck prevention strategy. Do this now while they are still asleep; this way they won’t hear you!

One of the best woodchuck defenses is fences! A simple chicken wire fence 3-4 feet high will do. Just be sure to bury that wire at least 12-18 inches below the ground. If that ground hog is fixing to dig his way into your garden, he’ll bump in to that buried wire. If fencing is not feasible for you, there are some other strategies to consider.

Plan to keep the perimeter around your garden neatly mowed. This will expose the chuck to his natural predators – dogs, cats, hawks.

Let you cats and dogs cruise the garden perimeter to chase away any garden marauders.

Chucks really love alfalfa. Try planting an alfalfa trap crop far away from your food garden. You can allow the chucks to munch to their hearts’ content on this alfalfa patch. Or you can trap them when they are in the trap crop.

Whenever you find one of the chuck exit holes, plug it up with rocks. Some folks put used kitty litter into the hole.

You can stick a highway flare into the hole; the sulfur smoke might smoke them out. And the escaping smoke will show you where the other exits are, so you can plug them or the chucks.

You can use carbon monoxide from a lawn mower or a car to smoke out the chucks.

You can use sponges soaked with ammonia to create noxious conditions to get those obnoxious critters moving on out.

Woodchucks are one of the easiest garden raiders to trap with those “have-a-heart” traps. Yeah, right, have a heart for those hungry chucks destroying your garden!

If you do catch them in these traps, then you’re stuck with the problem of what to do with them. I know, some of you out there know exactly what to do with those menacing monsters. Some folks would consider it justifiable homicide! But do check with your local animal control officers, or with the DEC for proper dispatchment and/or disposal. While I don’t think those voracious visitors are on anyone’s endangered species list, some towns with big hearts might have some rules or regulations concerning these animals. They might have more rights than you have!

If you are going with the traps, just make sure that they are large enough – 12x12x36 inches. You can bait those traps with pieces of fruit or nuts.

And once all of those woodchucks are gone, make sure that you plug up all of the entry/exit holes. You don’t want any more hungry tenants moving in. I’d probably use heavy-duty cement to plug them up. (Just kidding!)

Bit I am not kidding when I say that we are done for today!

Call me at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Lewis County-376-5270 – if you’d like any woodchuck recipes.

Remember – Eat Smart New York!

And – Bye – Talk to you soon!
D