A woodchuck will eat anything green it can gets its teeth into. Woodchucks, often called “groundhogs,” come out of their underground burrows at dawn for their first meal. They’re lazy and like to make their home near a convenient food source—like a nice vegetable garden. (I have a woodchuck that tries each fall to nest in my garden!) You can tell if a woodchuck is eating your crops because it moves efficiently down one row at a time, eating everything in its path. You couldn’t do a neater job with a lawnmower.
After their morning eating binge, woodchucks go back underground to sleep it off. You might spot them later in the day coming out for another meal. What a life!
They prefer not to travel very far from home to get food. If you can get them to relocate their burrows away from your garden, they may not bother you again.
Find all the woodchuck holes around your garden. They like dry spots for a burrow and they dig two entrances. Pour some moth crystals down each entrance or pour in a little liquid creosote, which is available at paint stores. Don’t get any creosote on your hands as it will burn. That’s what it does to the woodchuck’s belly. He’ll be smart enough to look for new quarters. Pouring some used motor oil down both entrances will often discourage them. They like to keep their fur clean and dry.
Woodchucks are easy to catch in “Havahart” traps. Be sure to release them at least a mile or so from your garden.
They hate the taste of moth crystals on their paws
There are many old-time tricks to keep raccoons out of the corn patch, but only one rule: put your defense in action before the raccoons set foot in your garden. Don’t wait until their first attack. Once raccoons get a taste of your sweet corn, it will be almost impossible to keep them out.
If you are growing extra-early sweet corn, get ready to protect it. The local raccoons will sniff it out because it will be sweet and delicious well before any of your neighbors’ corn. I find that once the farmers near me have corn in their fields that’s ready to eat, the raccoons don’t bother my crops as much.
One trick I had good luck with—before building my electric fence—was spreading moth crystals between corn rows at each edge of the garden. Raccoons hate the taste of moth crystals on their paws. I put out the crystals at dusk because raccoons will hunt for food as soon as it gets a little dark. I never had to use them down the entire row— working the edges did the job. If it rains, you’ll have to put down more crystals.
If you are a careful observer, you may find paths through tall grass that raccoons take to the garden. If so, sprinkle a little creosote along the path. Raccoons don’t like getting this on them either, and it may discourage them.
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