Conference misery::feline_v1

    Gee, my family of woodchucks don't seem to be a threat - when I come
    out on the porch they waddle away quickly.  There is not much funnier
    than seeing 2 or 3 VERY FAT woodchucks trying to move fast!  What a
    hoot!  I wish the red fox were as anti social - I think he has been
    playing on my porch - the kids really aren't pleased about it. sigh

    How bout getting a "Have-a-heart" trap from the Animal Rescue in town.
    If you're interested in buying one - I know one for sale for $30.00
    that a guy I work w/ is trying to sell.  I don't think it would do
    damage to any animal that got caught in it, nor could someone get a 
    leg caught in it (?).
    
    Good luck,
    Sonia

    Speaking of woodchucks, can these creatures do any harm?
    
    I saw one yesturday at my pool. I have a beautiful cedar fence around
    that area. I hope they won't do any harm to it. Or will they?
    
    He was cute. I had my two children looking out the window at him.
    But it is not what I would like to see as I'm floating around the
    pool catching a few rays. If you know what I mean..
    
    Thanks for your feedback..

    
    I do not think the woodchuck would harm your fence.  It may try to dig
    under it.
    
    I do know woodchucks will eat up a garden.  I have never heard of a
    woodchuck approaching anyone.  It is a safe idea to keep kids away from
    them.
    
    Regards,
    
    

    Thanks for all the input and chuckles! It really is kind of cute to see
    the critter stand there and thank me for his dinner salad! What I do know 
    now is what I've been calling a Tender Trap is really called a Have A Heart
    trap.  One thing I plan to do when I get home tonight is to call our town 
    Animal Control Officer (her on-the-air radio name is "Pup-one or
    puppy-one " cute!) and see if she has one to borrow.  
    
    Some of my husband's coworkers suggested a) bone meal, b)dried blood or
    c) moth balls which is supposed to repel the critters.  Does anyone have 
    any experience/input on these methods?  What about chicken wire around
    the garden or something over it?  Will they burrow under the wire?
    
    Guess I'm still basically a city kid!
    
    Again thanks and keep those suggestions coming!
    Lyn

    I think the only harm Woodchuck's do are to gardens and such.  I had
    never even seen one until one day when I was driving to visit my
    parents and the person in front of me hit one and kept on going (still
    didn't know what it was then, just a hurt animal who needed help).  I
    stopped the car and just stood in the middle of the road with it while
    people drove around me.  I looked around the area and groaned when I
    realized we were right in front of a gun shop and a man was coming out
    with a shovel to greet us.  I froze and just looked at him and he came
    over and confirmed that the animal was a woodchuck.  Then two women
    from the antique shop across the street came over to join forces with
    me and the man said that if we all weren't so bent on saving the
    woodchuck he would shoot it then and there because they destroy
    people's garden's, are a menace, etc.  He ended up picking it up with
    the shovel and placing it into the woods across the street, and the
    woodchuck waddled away.  Guess he was just stunned more than anything.
    
    I think any wild animal would do physical harm if confronted but most
    are afraid of humans and run when they see us.
    
    --Roberta
    

      Woodchucks---A.K.A. "The Eastern Marmot", are pests if you have a
    garden, but unless they contract rabies they are NOT agressive and will
    not attack any other animal. They are food for foxes and coyotes, and
    will wreak HAVOC on a garden in short order. They also have a tendency
    to be fantastic flea and lice repositorys, which may be a problem with
    cats 'n dogs, cause fleas aren't very discriminatory relative to their
    habitat...they'd just as soon jump off the wodchuck onto a cat or dog
    as they would stay there.
    
      Usually woodchucks--being "colonial" in nature---live in fairly large
    family groups, which could be up to 20 or 30 in an area. They make
    holes or usurp holes that other animals make, and they "remodel" by
    digging various escape and entry tunnels into their dens.
    
      Around gardens the only way to keep them out that I'm aware of is
    either extermination or building of an electric fence about 2 and 6
    inches from the ground. 
    
      Marmots are strict vegetarians, are slow movers, as you can easily
    see from the many carcasses that you see lying on or beside the
    highways in almost if not all of the lower 48 states. Western U.S. has
    a different type, and Alaska has the Arctic Marmot, but they are all
    basically the same critter.
    
      If one of them EVER seems "agressive" or prone to attacking anyone or
    any animal, DO NOT approach it!!! It is LIKELY rabid, and yuo should
    call the local authorities or the fish-and-game service to have it
    disposed of.
    
      John McD

	As I recall, there are several notes regarding woodchucks, gophers,
	and moles in the gardening notesfile at PICA::GARDEN.

	We have one that visits our back yard regularly.  We call him
	'George'. :^}

	Sandy

    Wants some fun with your woodchuck? They love you to whistle at
    them. Like you were calling a dog to come to you, or a short tune.
    Usually they react by sitting up and making this little whistle
    of their own. 
    
    Like John said, no garden is safe from them. Maybe next year you
    could plant TWO gardens, one for your family and one for them.
    
    We had a cute, but rather large one who hissed and growled a LOT
    at our Saint Bernard and cats when we walked them in "his" field.
    Poor fellow had his field developed by a condo building.
    
    Barbara

    What about Marigolds lining the garden?  That is supposed to work for
    insects, why not woodchucks?
    
    Good luck,
    

    re: have-a-heart - For anyone who might have the need.  I know that
    you can rent one from Taylor Rental.  Now this particular one is in
    Weymouth mass, but if one rental place has them then others probably
    do too.
      Nancy

     Re .9
      Another nickname for the Woodchuck is "Whistle-Pig", so this makes
    sense...
    
      Incidently: Although many folks advocate the "hav-a-hart" trap and
    relocation for pest animals, recently there have been a number of
    studies--for instance Rodale Institute, a proponant of strict organic
    gardening and environmental interaction--that have concluded that
    trapping and moving wild animals is more heartless than extermination
    at the source with some sort of humane process. What happens when a
    wild animal is trapped and moved to another location is a death
    sentence for either the moved animal or animals in the area that they
    are released. Reason for this is simple. Nature sets the population of
    a species in a particular area, and this is typically in direct
    porportion to the available food supply. So , by moving a woodchuck,
    squirrel, rabbit or such into an area, it must eat, which takes food
    from the animals in the locality. This usually will result in the death
    of babies or older and weaker local animals. 
      I believe this is true, since periodically the population of some
    species will become too large, and nature's typical reaction is for
    disease to decimate the population, which results in a food/population
    re-set. Rabbits are a good example. About every 7 to 10 years, the
    cottontail population in my home state of Minnesota will become very
    large, and "Tularemia", or "Rabbit fever" will result, causing a crash
    in the population. Wolves are another example...if the food supply
    diminishes, the pack will not have any pups, and the lower-ranking
    members of the pack will typically not be allowed to eat, resulting in
    their death by starvation. When the food supply is high, the dominant
    male will breed with the dominant female in the pack, resulting in
    pups, but ONLY in porportion to the available food. Excess pups will
    either be starved or killed outright by the dominant pair. Curiously,
    in a Wolf pack, ONLY the dominant pair will breed. Also, in many cases
    the dominant wolf, or "Pack Leader" will be a female instead of a male.
    The Wolf has a strick heirarchy in the pack, with very distinct
    ranking, and the food is consumed according to that ranking...the
    dominant pair taking their share of a kill first, and the next ranking
    animals eat next, and so on. ALL members of the pack act as
    "babysitters" for the pups however, and any wolf in the pack will feed
    the pups and care for and protect them. I personally belive we humans
    could learn a lot from the Wolf....
    
      So, although the "Hav-A-Hart" trap will usually quiet the conscience
    of a person who uses it, it's much better for the animals concerned if
    a person can find some means of controlling them and living WITH
    them...(which is why I'm feeding about a dozen chipmunks currently...)
    
    John McD

    Thanks everyone for the input!  I'm still on the waiting list for a
    trap from "Pup-1" (alias animal control officer)  She also said if the
    wait became unbearable to rent one from the local Environmental police.
    (can you picture the critter in *handcuffs*?) (pawcuffs?) or taylor
    rental for a few dollars a day.  Acutally as a progress note, my green
    beans seem to be rejuvinating, so far so good.  Maybe he knows I've got
    his number?
    
    Anyway, here's my current question, someone mentioned that is if I put
    an oil soaked rag in or near his hole(s) that it would go near it,
    rendering it homeless.  It sounded harmless enough to me but how about some
    input on that one?
    
    Thanks!
    Lyn
    

    
    	Woodchucks and gardens don't mix! I live in a wild area where
    we have the full assortment of eastern wildlife including bears,
    bobcats, and eastern coyotes. When woodchucks move into the area
    that is just about the end of any hope of any kind of a garden.
    The things like bloodmeal, bonemeal, mouth flakes, only work sometimes.
    And watch out for "dry holes" (chuck hole that is hidden in the
    grass.) many horses cows and people have broken legs in chuck holes.
    
    	And as another noter said they are hosts for all kinds of
    'kritters' you don't want your cats exposed to.
    
    Kirk +9
    

    OK people, here's the latest.  I STILL would like to borrow a Tender
    Trap, but likely it'll be next year!  My woodchuck(S?) still frequent
    the garden, and for the most part I've written the garden off as a
    total loss this year.  It seems all he's left me is a few tomatoes, if
    a tomatoe is even close to being ripe he'll eat half and leave the rest
    on the vine.  I've got a window full of half ripe tomatoes!  The corn
    might just make it, just maybe, and it looks like he's made a bed and
    sleeps in the summer squash.  Now how do I explain to my 3.5 year old
    son that the great pumpkin has been eaten, stock and all by this guy??
    
    It was sort of cute seeing this guy waddle off, mid afternoon with half
    a tomatoe in it's mouth!!  Guess I was wrong he didn't leave, he just
    visits during "working" hours!!
    
    Lyn