A woodchuck (groundhog) seemingly has made a home somewhere on our property. The first sign of this critter was several of my plants all but destroyed. At first, I blamed it on the deer but now am more convinced the groundhog is to blame. I’ve seen him/her multiple times, with the last time it heading under our deck. Aside from plants, groundhogs can be very destructive in so many other ways. Since I don’t have the heart to shoot it, I ordered a live trap. And yes, where we live, it is legal to relocate these pests.
Our neighbor’s barking dogs were another issue we were having. As aggravating as this was, we chose not to complain, and I am glad we didn’t. Our neighbors tended to keep to themselves; hence we didn’t know them all that well. I saw Mr. when getting our mail last October. He mentioned that just that week, his wife received a cancer diagnosis. Then, only a few weeks later, he died.
Getting back to the barking dogs, I think they must have been their daughter’s. The barking has stopped, and yesterday, I also noticed their boat was out of the water. I looked at the on-line obituaries and discovered that the Mrs. passed away two weeks ago. She was in her late 60s, and he was in his early 70s. I’m sad for their family but won’t miss those dogs! Since the daughter lives in another state, I can only guess she will sell the house. Hopefully, whoever buys it, won’t have any barking dogs!
Ants have been our third issue. I’ve only had a couple in the house, but I didn’t like the anthills in our yard. And I’m not talking just a few; they kept multiplying and growing in size! One on-line intervention said to use boiling water to kill them. Well, on the anthills I targeted, that didn’t seem to phase them. I am now using a combination of borax, sugar, and water, soaked in cotton balls. In less than a week, there is now far less ant activity. I think I am going to win this battle. I hope once the live-trap arrives, I will be able to say the same thing for the groundhog!
I assume you mean fire ants. The County Agent spoke to our group. Everyone wanted to know how to kill them. He said–get BAIT for fireants and put all around the hills. The fireants carry the yummy food back to the whole group and they die. Otherwise, you poison a few and they grab the queen and relocate, so you never truly get rid of them. Lots of things work to make them scurry away, but only BAIT kills the whole mound. Your neighbors were certainly young when they died.
The groundhog at my house did not destroy anything. He just stood on his hind feet and ate the tomatoes as they ripened. I watched him one day.
The ants we have are black and (thankfully) don’t bite. I didn’t count, but I’m guessing that we had close to a dozen of these anthills. Many were dinner plate size or larger. The soaked cotton balls seem to be doing the trick for killing them off.
I do feel for the daughter. To lose both parents in under a year must be very difficult. Even though we didn’t have much contact with them, it feels strange knowing they have both passed.
That’s sad about your neighbor and good instinct not to complain, though if new owners have barking dogs, you should complain to try to nip it in the bud! We have a live trap too, we had gotten a long time ago to catch a racoon getting in our barn cats “hut” in the woodshed.
After finding her obit, I was really glad we didn’t say anything. We had seen home care (the employees drive company cars) come down our road and I kind of figured our neighbor was likely the patient. We just didn’t want to add to an already difficult situation. Good point about future owners. Always best to stop it early on. I am hopeful this trap takes care of the woodchuck before it multiplies!
If you have birds that you enjoy watching, take some crackers smeared with honey and put them around the ant hill area. The ants swarm to the honey, the birds get an easy meal and you get the enjoyment of the birds! Win-win for everyone except the ants. This works best early morning and evening, when birds would generally be feeding.
As for Mr/Mrs Groundhog, take some rags soaked with ammonia and place them where you think he/she is hanging around. They do not like that! Unfortunately, groundhogs have several dens in the area so you would have to find them all, which is almost impossible. I’ve relocated a few myself. Make sure it is at least 5 miles away and has a water source. They are little buggers, but they are just groundhogs being and doing groundhog things. Can’t fault them for that.
If we didn’t live in such a remote area, I’d give the crackers and honey a try. We can’t even keep birdseed out on account of bears. I’ll throw some ammonia-soaked rags under our deck as that is where I’ve seen him/her the most often. Worth a try. When we had dogs, we never had any issues with groundhogs.