Kill or Be

Lisa,

Do you know of any safe way to trap and move groundhog from the area? One of them climbed the fence and got into my closed-off garden. Total destruction and carnage in my beds :( my salads, spinach, Swiss chard, broccoli, peas, beans, carrots paid the price. any suggestions that don't include killing them are welcome.

Sandy

You know Sandy, it's a war. You can stand by and be a pushover or you can declare war.

The first line of defense (de-fence) is a great fence. It's best to take some chicken wire or any wire and lay it flat about 15 inches from the fence and lay some top soil on it. The groundhog don't like to dig too far. This alone will discourage most groundhog.

Next, get a have-a-heart trap and put some of those delicious peas, beans and carrots in. Then, give them swimming lessons (forget about trapping and releasing, unless you have some sworn enemies that you would like to deliver some goods to). If they don't like that, offer them a snack of a my mom's favorite recipe: coke with a shot of fly bait (just add 1/4 cup of fly bait to one cup of coke and leave in the vicinity of a woodchuck's home). It’s actually a pretty humane method as most don’t make it more than 20 feet. That’s quick!

If that doesn't work, invite your favorite hunter to a Sunday potluck (anything brought must be fresh).

But in the end we must all accept that by consuming vegetables (or anything) something must die. And it does. Either by some type of spray or trap or chemicals, that pest must die. (The only way around this reality is if you only eat what you forage). Otherwise, you (or someone else) will starve to death. And die. Yes, it sucks.

But if the groundhog eats all of your garden, where will you buy produce? And how do you know that farmer hasn't killed 100 groundhog to bring you that plastic container of spinach? You don't. It's easier to not know what's been killed in your name and consume merrily. We all do. Every day. Until we plant a garden.

Good luck! We all need it.

Lisa