Woodchucks (Groundhogs)
Woodchuck Behaviors and Determining Their Presence
Woodchucks will often dig burrows underneath structures like low decks, sheds, and porches. Woodchucks will dig these burrows under structures for protection from predators and as a nesting area for young. Another sign of woodchucks is damage to your home garden or any other vegetation. Herbaceous plants provide the bulk diet of woodchucks and consume on average 1.5lb of vegetation per day. If you have this type of vegetation on your property, groundhogs, if present, will go after it.
Motives
Woodchucks will often dig their burrows underneath a structure to create protection from predators and as a nesting area for their young. Their breeding season is in the early spring, from April to June. They have, on average, 4 young in a litter and the males and females do not stay together after breeding. The young often leave the den in August.
Risks
When woodchucks dig their burrows underneath structures like low hanging decks, porches, and sheds, they are often near your foundation. The burrowing near your homes foundation can threaten your home’s structural stability and it can create opportunities for water to seep in and eventually wear away at your foundation.
Woodchuck/Groundhog Removal
We offer trapping services for woodchucks/ groundhogs. Traps would be placed near or over the entry points. Our services usually run between Monday to Friday with daily trap checks. Each animal would be relocated and a new trap would then take its place. Along with the standard woodchuck bait, our traps have also been scented up from previous woodchucks and can more easily attract the attention of other woodchucks.
Remediation
After the removal of woodchucks there will still be a large hole underneath the structure and oftentimes clients are worried about different species entering that hole. We can offer a trench and screening service where there is mesh screening that goes down a foot and out a foot in the shape of an L. This trench and screening secures your structure where there was once a woodchuck den.
Long term Solutions
Sealing off the areas where the woodchuck den is can decrease their presence. Typically, they would not commute long distances to forge so they prefer a den site near where they usually graze at. A long term solution would be to trench and screen around your deck or shed so they would not have access to those areas.
Want to learn more about how we remove woodchucks? Click on the links below.
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