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Picture in your mind a hand-planted tomato plant that is bearing fruit. Only a day or two of ripening separates you from the delicious fruits of your labor. As you inspect your plant the next morning you notice that your tomatoes all have bites taken out of them! Chances are good that you have been visited by a woodchuck.

Now what do you do? This guy has got to go!

If you do not care to tackle this project on your own, check for local businesses that deal with nuisance wildlife control. You will usually find them under Pest Control or Animal Damage in the yellow pages. Most businesses charge a fee for setting the traps and then a fee for each animal that they trap. Be sure to discuss with them the possibility of non-target catches and what their policies are on payment. A reputable company will target only the woodchucks and not require payment for other animals that they might catch and release. Some homeowners opt to rid their yards and gardens of any animal that will come onto the premises. If that is the case, let your pocketbook be your guide.

Woodchucks can be effectively trapped and removed from the area. Live traps measuring 10x12x36 inches are perfect for the task. Most trappers use one-door traps that are very sturdy, as woodchucks are formidable when trapped and will try very hard to escape.

Remember the old poem “How much wood could a woodchuck chuck…?” The truth is that woodchucks (also known as “groundhogs”) don’t care too much for wood but they absolutely love fruits and vegetables. Flowers rank right up there on a woodchuck’ menu as well. Many a flower garden has been decimated by a hungry woodchuck.

It seems so simple to take a live trap and throw some bait into the back of it and catch a woodchuck. Don’t be taken in with simplicities. Woodchucks can be trapped but so can every other animal that wanders through your backyard! It is wise to take a few minutes to understand the woodchuck so it can be targeted instead of the local skunk family.

Woodchucks wake up from their hibernation state in late March or April. Mating takes place right away. A month later the females bear about five baby woodchucks. The litter can be as high as nine babies. These babies stay in the underground den for the first four or five weeks. After that they are fully active and can be seen straying farther and farther from the den’s entrance. After about the sixth week of life they are chased out by the mother and forced to strike out on their own.

Woodchucks dig their dens in the ground and use elaborate tunnel systems. They will have two holes to use (sort of a front door – back door system) and will usually wear paths in the ground cover leading toward the holes. These paths can be very important to the Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator (as he likes to be called.) Many times a live trap might be set directly over a hole or in one of these wear paths.

The wildlife control professional will set the traps in the most beneficial spots. Feel free to talk with him about trap placement but keep in mind that he’s trapped hundreds of woodchucks. Once the traps are set, do not “rethink” the situation and move his traps to a different spot. Another big “No-No” is to add food to the trap to enhance his bait selection. The baits and lures that he uses are proven winners. Keep in mind that there are scents and lures and oils on most of the baits. That thing that looks like a simple cabbage leaf in the trap is actually an odiferous smorgasbord for woodchucks.

Once the trap is set, the woodchuck can be expected only during the daylight hours. I recommend springing the trap (closing the door) at dusk. Woodchucks sleep at night just like we do. Skunks, raccoons, cats, opossums, and a few other animals would be happy to sample your bait during the night. Reset the trap in the morning. Make sure that the wildlife control professional that you hired is in agreement that you should do this.

Will a woodchuck bite? Are they aggressive? Are they mean? YES they will, yes they are. ANY trapped animal will bite and be aggressive. They are scared and in an environment they have never been in. Do not try to pet the trapped animal. And don’t feed it or give it water. If it is hot and sunny, you may want to throw an expendable towel over the trap to provide the woodchuck with some cover.

Once the woodchuck is in the wildlife control professional’s truck, fill in the holes at the den entrances. If there are more woodchucks, they will open the holes again and you will know that you need another trap. If you are absolutely positive that that was the only woodchuck in the area, FILL IN THE HOLES! Otherwise you are asking for the wandering skunk to decide that he has found a new home.

What if you think there might already be a skunk? That’s another article!

Here is a picture of one of the many woodchucks that I have trapped in Genesee County, Michigan.

Enjoy your gardens, your flowerbeds, and the time spent caring for them. Don’t let woodchucks spoil it for you. Now you have the information to take care of the situation. Woodchucks can be trapped and controlled!