5 Cues Your Hudson Valley Yard is Overrun By Wicked Woodchucks

Do you have these cute 'little chubby' critters all throughout your yard? Have you actually spotted them? There are a few ways to be 100% sure that you have diagnosed what is happening in your yard correctly to these creatures, we'll share those in a minute.

If you deem that it is woodchucks or groundhogs that are doing this damage in your yard, there really is only one thing that you can do to 'encourage them to leave their current home in your yard.' How would you get them to move out of your yard? 

Ways to know that it is really a groundhog or woodchuck that's terrorizing your yard

Have you seen massive holes in your yard? Have you seen random (and large) amounts of dirt and rock right next to a place where it just doesn't belong? The picture above is actually the front porch at my neighbor's house. The little devils continue to dig up and remove anything that I put down that hole. How the heck did they do that? Dig and then just know that they needed to turn a corner? Yikes.

What happened to your garden? It was great just the day before and then today your garden is gone?

Along, with the random holes in the yard, you might need to make sure you have extra fencing, the kind that they use at Fort Knox, or the nearest correctional facility - that you don't want to use here. I assure you, anything less than the highest, most impenetrable type of fencing will have your garden disappearing.

Wait, what happened to the ground under the deck? Groundhog?

So missing garden, random mounds of dirt, huge holes all over your yard? Take a look out your window in the early morning or early evening say 7 am or 7 pm. What do you see? Yep, do you see them? More than likely you do. You probably don't want to hear this, but if you see one, there are more than likely two. Then depending on the time of the year, three or more. The little suckers multiply.

Is there any way to get these wicked woodchucks or groundhogs to simply leave?

Yes and no. Yes, you can get them to leave, but it will take have-a-heart traps, checking them daily, rebaiting them daily, and then rehoming whatever you catch at least 5 miles away. It is a process just to remove or re-home them! But then it's like they know where the holes were if you just fill them up again. When you repair the den holes, you will also need to put mesh in them to discourage future tunneling. Best of luck getting these little "chunkers" to relocate. It is a lengthy process.

While woodchucks or ground hogs are mostly just inconvenient and bothersome, there are some animals that are illegal to keep as pets in New York State: