By the time you read this, Phil will have made his prediction. For all our sake, we hope it is for an early spring. In the midst of winter, Groundhog’s day is a fun diversion and reminds us spring is on the way sooner or later. Some 40,000 make the trek to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania to witness this yearly event dating back to the 1800’s. Punxsutawney Phil has met Oprah Winfrey, President Reagan, Governors Thornburg and Rendell, and in 2001, his prediction was broadcast live to New York City’s Times Square. Fun as Phil is, groundhog’s day is folklore.
Here are some facts about the groundhog, and how to manage the furry creature once he makes an appearance in your yard.
Marmota monax, the groundhog, also known as the woodchuck, is a chunky creature weighing up to 10 lbs. Its length ranges sixteen to twenty inches plus the tail, four to seven inches. While open farm land is their first choice, the groundhog has made a comfortable home in the suburban landscape where plenty of food and shelter make life easy for them. Often a groundhog will construct its burrow along stone walls, at the base of trees, and even along a foundation.
Groundhog burrows can be identified by the large mound of excavated earth at the main entrance. On this mound, which is constantly renewed by debris from within, the groundhog frequently sits to look for danger. The entranceway is 10 to 12 inches in diameter, and they also have secondary entrances. These tend to be hidden and dug from below so mounds are not seen.
The groundhog can be the bane of most homeowners. The animal’s feeding and burrowing habits conflict with human interests. Damage often occurs on farms, in home gardens, orchards, nurseries, and around buildings. Damage to crops such as alfalfa, soybeans, beans, squash, tomatoes, and peas can be costly and extensive. A homeowner may lose his or her entire tomato patch. Fruit trees and ornamental shrubs may be damaged by a groundhog as they gnaw on woody vegetation. Mounds of earth from the excavated burrow systems and holes formed at burrow entrances present a hazard to farm equipment, animals, and humans. On occasion, burrowing can weaken building foundations.
In Pennsylvania, groundhogs are classified as game animals. Game protection is removed when they damage personal property. In that case, groundhogs can be controlled by the property owner using the lawful means. If a homeowner does not feel comfortable with any means of control, there are many wildlife pest control companies who can do this for you.
If the area is small, poultry wire or two inch woven mesh fencing can be installed. With three foot minimum above ground, the fence should have twelve inches buried in the ground, with six inches bent in an L shape pointing away.
Scarecrows can provide temporary relief from groundhog damage. Move them regularly and incorporate a high level of human activity in the susceptible area.
There are no repellents or toxicants that are for use on groundhogs. There are other products such as fumigants and gas cartridges available at home and garden centers which are labeled for use on groundhogs. Please carefully follow the directions as these are dangerous products.
There are live traps the homeowners can use as well. Place the trap near fresh damage or at the main entrance of the burrow. Use fresh bait such as apple slices, carrots, and lettuce. Be careful once the animal is trapped. Give some thought to a relocation area at least ten miles away and where the groundhog will not be the pest he was to you.
The Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County have a free publication on groundhogs, contact us at (570) 963-6842 or email: LackawannaMG@psu.edu for a copy.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Extension Lackawanna County
Showing posts with label groundhog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label groundhog. Show all posts
Monday, February 4, 2013
Sunday, February 6, 2011
What’s Munching On My Garden And What Can I Do About It?
If you want to know what animal assaulted your apple tree or committed a felony on your tulips, you should learn crime-scene-investigation techniques. Gary San Julian, Penn State professor of wildlife resources, will kick-off a free online seminar series about those techniques at noon and at 7 p.m. on Feb. 7. The series of one-hour webinars about wildlife damage will continue on the first Monday of each month through May. You will learn how to recognize just who the culprit is and techniques for dissuading the attentions of some of the more persistent wildlife critters.
To view live and previously recorded webinars, all you need is a "Friend of Penn State” user ID, a high-speed Internet connection, and a computer with sound. To register and take part in the live webinars or to watch programs in the archives, visit the Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center website (http://rnrext.cas.psu.edu/PAForestWeb/). If you do not already have a Friend of Penn State user ID, click “Register Now” on the Seminar Center website and it will walk you through the process.
Archived sessions will be available at the Seminar Center website, along with a copy of the presentation and any handout materials, so you can watch it at your convenience.
Other webinars scheduled in the Wildlife Damage series include:
For a list of free publications on a variety of Forest-related topics, call 800-234-9473, send an email to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 416 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802.
For the full article about the Wildlife Damage webinars and other Forest Stewardship programs, go to http://live.psu.edu/story/51033#nw69, or contact your local extension office. In Lackawanna County call our garden help line at 963-6842 ext. 1377 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu
Terry Schettini
Extension Educator Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
To view live and previously recorded webinars, all you need is a "Friend of Penn State” user ID, a high-speed Internet connection, and a computer with sound. To register and take part in the live webinars or to watch programs in the archives, visit the Pennsylvania Forests Web Seminar Center website (http://rnrext.cas.psu.edu/PAForestWeb/). If you do not already have a Friend of Penn State user ID, click “Register Now” on the Seminar Center website and it will walk you through the process.
Archived sessions will be available at the Seminar Center website, along with a copy of the presentation and any handout materials, so you can watch it at your convenience.
Other webinars scheduled in the Wildlife Damage series include:
- March 7: "Groundhogs -- the Good, the Bad, and the Funny."
- April 4: "The 'oles -- Give me a V, give me an M." This presentation is about voles and moles.
- May 2: "Squirrels and Chippies Acting Out."
For a list of free publications on a variety of Forest-related topics, call 800-234-9473, send an email to RNRext@psu.edu, or write to Forest Stewardship Program, Forest Resources Extension, The Pennsylvania State University, 416 Forest Resources Building, University Park, PA 16802.
For the full article about the Wildlife Damage webinars and other Forest Stewardship programs, go to http://live.psu.edu/story/51033#nw69, or contact your local extension office. In Lackawanna County call our garden help line at 963-6842 ext. 1377 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu
Terry Schettini
Extension Educator Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Monday, January 31, 2011
Wildlife Damage in Winter
While the attention this week will be on our friend Phil, the rest of his kin will still be hibernating well into the month of March. The groundhog is notorious for doing quite a bit of damage around the home landscape. Who hasn’t lost a tomato in its prime or noticed gnawed ornamentals in their yard? This time of year, in the dead of winter the groundhog is not to blame. A fair amount of landscape injury comes from 'A Tail of Two Critters'. The whitetail deer and the cottontail rabbit can do extensive damage in winter around your home.
Whitetail deer are selective and adaptive eaters. Their eating habits change with the seasons and availability of a food source. They may ignore a planting in summer but turn to it when nothing else is around to sustain them. Often deer will try plants for taste, so you may notice a plant ripped and left behind as it did not please the animal’s pallet. Signs of deer damage are jagged or torn stem ends, bark that seems to have been rubbed off and of course their droppings.
Cottontail rabbits are active all year round and can usually be seen dawn to dusk. As they need cover to protect themselves from predators, they are often seen around brush piles, field edges, and landscaped backyards. There they find suitable food as well. Rabbits can do a serve amount of damage in the winter when other food supplies have dwindled to the point of actually killing some trees and shrubs. Telltale signs are patches of gnawed bark within two and half feet of the ground. Distinctive to the rabbit is their clipping of stems which resembles a knife cut.
Exclusion is the first step to protect your landscape from damage. Most people like the bucolic scene of deer roaming in nature so fencing around individual plantings is usually the choice. Remember, deer are hungry and can reach over to eat so height is a consideration. For the cottontail, two to four foot of chicken wire tight to the ground is a hindrance. Wire-hardware cloth and tree guards will offer some protection to the trunks too.
Repellants have been shown to be successful in conjunction with other means of control. If you choose to use such a product, please follow the labeled directions. There are a lot variables to consider when using repellents as the animals’ eating habits change with availability. They are best used at the onset of visible damage.
Both rabbits and deer are protected and cannot be harmed outside of the established hunting times. Because of the prolific nature of the rabbit’s reproduction, trapping is generally not effective. For more information on controlling the damage these two tails can do, contact the Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County at 570-963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu and request the Winter Wildlife Packet. In addition, there is a new Master Gardener training class scheduled to begin in March, contact us for more information.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Whitetail deer are selective and adaptive eaters. Their eating habits change with the seasons and availability of a food source. They may ignore a planting in summer but turn to it when nothing else is around to sustain them. Often deer will try plants for taste, so you may notice a plant ripped and left behind as it did not please the animal’s pallet. Signs of deer damage are jagged or torn stem ends, bark that seems to have been rubbed off and of course their droppings.
Cottontail rabbits are active all year round and can usually be seen dawn to dusk. As they need cover to protect themselves from predators, they are often seen around brush piles, field edges, and landscaped backyards. There they find suitable food as well. Rabbits can do a serve amount of damage in the winter when other food supplies have dwindled to the point of actually killing some trees and shrubs. Telltale signs are patches of gnawed bark within two and half feet of the ground. Distinctive to the rabbit is their clipping of stems which resembles a knife cut.
Exclusion is the first step to protect your landscape from damage. Most people like the bucolic scene of deer roaming in nature so fencing around individual plantings is usually the choice. Remember, deer are hungry and can reach over to eat so height is a consideration. For the cottontail, two to four foot of chicken wire tight to the ground is a hindrance. Wire-hardware cloth and tree guards will offer some protection to the trunks too.
Repellants have been shown to be successful in conjunction with other means of control. If you choose to use such a product, please follow the labeled directions. There are a lot variables to consider when using repellents as the animals’ eating habits change with availability. They are best used at the onset of visible damage.
Both rabbits and deer are protected and cannot be harmed outside of the established hunting times. Because of the prolific nature of the rabbit’s reproduction, trapping is generally not effective. For more information on controlling the damage these two tails can do, contact the Penn State Master Gardeners in Lackawanna County at 570-963-6842 or email LackawannaMG@psu.edu and request the Winter Wildlife Packet. In addition, there is a new Master Gardener training class scheduled to begin in March, contact us for more information.
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Groundhogs
Is it Punxsutawney Phil, the famous furry barometer, or maybe Gus the second most famous groundhog, you see scurry across your yard? Probably not, but as common as this long tailed rodent is seen, it would seem that Ground Hog’s Day happens seven days a week, all year long.
Marmota monax, the groundhog, also known as the woodchuck, is a chunky creature weighing up to 10 lbs. Its length ranges sixteen to twenty inches plus the tail, four to seven inches. While open farm land is their first choice, the groundhog has made a comfortable home in the suburban landscape where plenty of food and shelter make life easy for them. Often a groundhog will construct its burrow along stone walls, at the base of trees and even along a foundation.
Groundhog burrows can be identified by the large mound of excavated earth at the main entrance. On this mound, which is constantly renewed by debris from within, the groundhog frequently sits to look for danger. The entranceway is 10 to 12 inches in diameter, and they also have secondary entrances. These tend to be hidden and dug from below so mounds are not seen.
The groundhog can be the bane of most homeowners. The animal’s feeding and burrowing hab¬its conflict with human interests. Damage often occurs on farms, in home gardens, orchards, nurseries, around build¬ings. Damage to crops such as alfalfa, soybeans, beans, squash, tomatoes, and peas can be costly and extensive. A homeowner may lose his or her entire tomato patch. Fruit trees and ornamental shrubs may be damaged by groundhog as they gnaw on woody vegetation. Mounds of earth from the excavated burrow systems and holes formed at burrow entrances present a hazard to farm equipment, animals and humans. On occasion, burrowing can building foundations.
In Pennsylvania, groundhogs are classified as game ani¬mals. Game protection is removed when they damage personal property. In that case, groundhogs can be controlled by the property owner using the lawful means. If a homeowner does not feel comfortable with any means of control, there are many wildlife pest control companies who can do this for you.
If the area is small, poultry wire or two inch woven mesh fencing can be installed. With three foot minimum above ground, the fence should have twelve inches buried in the ground, with six inches bent in an L shape pointing away.
Scarecrows can provide temporary relief from groundhog damage. Move them regularly and incorporate a high level of human activity in the susceptible area.
There are no repellents or toxicants that are for use on groundhogs. There are other products such as fumigants and gas cartridges available at home and garden centers which are labeled for use on groundhogs. Please carefully follow the directions as these are dangerous products.
There are live traps the homeowners can use as well. Place the trap near fresh damage or at the main entrance of the burrow. Use fresh bait such as apple slices, carrots, and lettuce. Be careful once the animal is trapped. Give some thought to a relocation area at least ten miles away and here the groundhog will not be the pest he was to you.
For more information on groundhogs or any other home horticulture topic, please contact the Penn State Master Gardener Helpline at (570) 963-6842 or email: LackawannaMG@psu.edu
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce
Marmota monax, the groundhog, also known as the woodchuck, is a chunky creature weighing up to 10 lbs. Its length ranges sixteen to twenty inches plus the tail, four to seven inches. While open farm land is their first choice, the groundhog has made a comfortable home in the suburban landscape where plenty of food and shelter make life easy for them. Often a groundhog will construct its burrow along stone walls, at the base of trees and even along a foundation.
Groundhog burrows can be identified by the large mound of excavated earth at the main entrance. On this mound, which is constantly renewed by debris from within, the groundhog frequently sits to look for danger. The entranceway is 10 to 12 inches in diameter, and they also have secondary entrances. These tend to be hidden and dug from below so mounds are not seen.
The groundhog can be the bane of most homeowners. The animal’s feeding and burrowing hab¬its conflict with human interests. Damage often occurs on farms, in home gardens, orchards, nurseries, around build¬ings. Damage to crops such as alfalfa, soybeans, beans, squash, tomatoes, and peas can be costly and extensive. A homeowner may lose his or her entire tomato patch. Fruit trees and ornamental shrubs may be damaged by groundhog as they gnaw on woody vegetation. Mounds of earth from the excavated burrow systems and holes formed at burrow entrances present a hazard to farm equipment, animals and humans. On occasion, burrowing can building foundations.
In Pennsylvania, groundhogs are classified as game ani¬mals. Game protection is removed when they damage personal property. In that case, groundhogs can be controlled by the property owner using the lawful means. If a homeowner does not feel comfortable with any means of control, there are many wildlife pest control companies who can do this for you.
If the area is small, poultry wire or two inch woven mesh fencing can be installed. With three foot minimum above ground, the fence should have twelve inches buried in the ground, with six inches bent in an L shape pointing away.
Scarecrows can provide temporary relief from groundhog damage. Move them regularly and incorporate a high level of human activity in the susceptible area.
There are no repellents or toxicants that are for use on groundhogs. There are other products such as fumigants and gas cartridges available at home and garden centers which are labeled for use on groundhogs. Please carefully follow the directions as these are dangerous products.
There are live traps the homeowners can use as well. Place the trap near fresh damage or at the main entrance of the burrow. Use fresh bait such as apple slices, carrots, and lettuce. Be careful once the animal is trapped. Give some thought to a relocation area at least ten miles away and here the groundhog will not be the pest he was to you.
For more information on groundhogs or any other home horticulture topic, please contact the Penn State Master Gardener Helpline at (570) 963-6842 or email: LackawannaMG@psu.edu
Steve Ward
Master Gardener Coordinator
Penn State Cooperative Extension in Lackawanna County
Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce
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