Backyard Gardeners

[duke79]

Is a woodchuck a gopher or a groundhog? Or does it matter?

My grandparents battled a groundhog for a couple years before my uncle dispatched it with a 22.

-jk

Apparently, according to Google, "woodchucks" and "groundhogs" are the same animal (how did we ever live without Google and internet?). The names can be used interchangeably. However, a gopher is a different animal than a woodchuck or groundhog. Gophers are smaller (both in length and weight) than woodchucks.
+

[BigWayne]

Yea, we're plagued with woodchucks (or gophers, as some people call them) on our property. I HATE those animals - they destroy the vegetable and flower gardens. You would not believe how much time I have spent over the years trying to get rid of them. I feel like Bill Murray in the movie Caddy Shack. I've tried trapping them in Hav-a-heart traps over the years but it is not that easy to catch them on those traps and, if you do manage to trap them, they are NOT happy campers and will try to attack you through the trap. I keep telling my wife that I need a 22 rifle to "exterminate" them but she (rightly) thinks I should not own a gun.

One of my memories of visiting my grandparents was my grandfather grabbing his rifle and heading out the side door in his bathrobe after the evil woodchuck. He never was able to hit one when we were visiting.

[duke79]

One of my memories of visiting my grandparents was my grandfather grabbing his rifle and heading out the side door in his bathrobe after the evil woodchuck. He never was able to hit one when we were visiting.

Yea, my wife shot one decades ago with a 22 that she borrowed from a local farmer. She is STILL traumatized by that episode.
One of the issues is that they "appear in public" only sporadically, so you would have to sit outside with the gun for long periods of time, hoping that you might see one and can then shoot it. And they can move quite fast if they see a human near by, so not so easy to shoot unless you can surprise them. I've also hired professional trappers to try to catch them but they charge, I think, $150 (or maybe $250) per animal (if they can get them). And it seems like there is a never ending number of the vile critters on our property, so trapping a few does little to solve the problem. Don't even get me started on the deer, bears, foxes, squirrels (red and grey), chipmunks (and now a massive invasion of "spongy moth caterpillars - AKS "gypsy moth caterpillers) and other varmints that I have to contend with.

[budwom]

^ one summer my wife was growing gobs of geraniums on the deck, red squirrels took to eating the buds each day, so using a Have a Heart trap, we entered 28 squirrels into our elite relocation program (which is technically illegal, but who's keeping score)?

I've thought about trapping Fat Bastid, our current woodchuck, but as in Jaws, I'd need a bigger trap...(trapping skunks in those things is when it really gets interesting).

[aimo]

I have cousins in Virginia who had a resident groundhog. He was huge and visibly battlescarred. I would not want to mess with him! They set traps, but mostly just caught squirrels.

[duke79]

^ one summer my wife was growing gobs of geraniums on the deck, red squirrels took to eating the buds each day, so using a Have a Heart trap, we entered 28 squirrels into our elite relocation program (which is technically illegal, but who's keeping score)?

I've thought about trapping Fat Bastid, our current woodchuck, but as in Jaws, I'd need a bigger trap...(trapping skunks in those things is when it really gets interesting).

Yea, my experience is that it is not easy to trap the woodchucks. If you just put the trap out with some bait inside (they like melon and I usually use watermelon or honeydew melon), they are not dumb enough to go inside to get the bait (in my experience); so, after watching hours of YouTube videos, the best method is that you have to set up some sort of tunnel (I use pieces of plywood) from their hole or den (and ours live underneath a small guest cottage we have on our property) right to the trap, so they have no choice if they want to come out of their hole but to go into the trap (and I camo the trap with some hay and other stuff). I've had some success with this method. And, yes, you do NOT want to trap a skunk in the Hav-a-heart trap. That happened to me once and I called the professional trapper to come and get rid of the skunk (he threw and old blanket over the trap before taking it away).

[BigWayne]

Yea, my experience is that it is not easy to trap the woodchucks. If you just put the trap out with some bait inside (they like melon and I usually use watermelon or honeydew melon), they are not dumb enough to go inside to get the bait (in my experience); so, after watching hours of YouTube videos, the best method is that you have to set up some sort of tunnel (I use pieces of plywood) from their hole or den (and ours live underneath a small guest cottage we have on our property) right to the trap, so they have no choice if they want to come out of their hole but to go into the trap (and I camo the trap with some hay and other stuff). I've had some success with this method. And, yes, you do NOT want to trap a skunk in the Hav-a-heart trap. That happened to me once and I called the professional trapper to come and get rid of the skunk (he threw and old blanket over the trap before taking it away).

We had a problem at my workplace many years ago where skunks were seasonally burrowing under the concrete slab of the building to make nests. This went on for years and never got dealt with until they decided to burrow under the CEOs office. The trapper that came out had his hav-a-heart traps set with plastic cardboard pieces attached to the top and sides to make it a dark place to keep the skunks calmer when removing the traps. If they are covered up they don't feel threatened as much and spray less.

[budwom]

Yea, my experience is that it is not easy to trap the woodchucks. If you just put the trap out with some bait inside (they like melon and I usually use watermelon or honeydew melon), they are not dumb enough to go inside to get the bait (in my experience); so, after watching hours of YouTube videos, the best method is that you have to set up some sort of tunnel (I use pieces of plywood) from their hole or den (and ours live underneath a small guest cottage we have on our property) right to the trap, so they have no choice if they want to come out of their hole but to go into the trap (and I camo the trap with some hay and other stuff). I've had some success with this method. And, yes, you do NOT want to trap a skunk in the Hav-a-heart trap. That happened to me once and I called the professional trapper to come and get rid of the skunk (he threw and old blanket over the trap before taking it away).

The woodchuck at the house next to us on the left (not the human one) lives under a small house they built for their ducks. Not sure they know this, but I do.
The woodchuck at the house next to us on the right lives in a hole under Daisy Mae's garage. For sure she doesn't know this.

A few years ago one took up residence in the culvert at the end of our driveway...pretty clever...our dogs could see and smell him, but couldn't engage.

[BigWayne]

Plant your lettuce now. Going to get very expensive soon.

Flood prediction for Monday morning in Salinas valley where most of your spring/summer lettuce comes from:

sprc1_hg.jpg

Impacts:
According to some information on the National Weather Service webpage, here's what it could mean at various stages:

26 feet: The lower portions of Soledad, Gonzales, Chualar, Spence and Spreckels will have moderate flooding. At least 20,000 acres of farm land in the Salinas Valley are threatened with flooding. Levees along the lower Salinas River could breach. Some primary and many secondary roads along the Salinas River will begin to flood. Highway 68 will become inundated.
27 feet: The lower portions of Castroville will begin to flood. Foster Road, one mile south of Salinas will flood. Highway 156 near Castroville will begin to flood. Many secondary roads in the Salinas Valley will be flooded and impassable. Large areas of agricultural land in the Salinas Valley will have major flood damage.
28 feet: The lower portions of Soledad, Gonzales, Chualar, Spence, Spreckels and Castroville will have major flooding. Major flooding will affect 40,000 acres or more of agricultural land in the Salinas Valley. Some primary roads and most secondary roads in the Salinas Valley will be flooded and impassable.
29 feet: All roads just south and west of Spreckels will be flooded. US 101 will flood just north of Soledad. Highway 1 just south of Castroville near Nashua Road will flood. Many roads, homes and agricultural land areas in the Salinas Valley will have major flood damage.
30 feet: The entire lower Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding. The entire city of Salinas is in danger of flooding. Most of Castroville will flood. All roads near the Salinas River will be flooded and impassable. 90,000 acres or more of agricultural land in the Salinas Valley will have disastrous flooding.

[budwom]

^ if you will come help me move the two feet of wet snow we got yesterday, I'll be happy to put some lettuce in the ground!

[BigWayne]

^ if you will come help me move the two feet of wet snow we got yesterday, I'll be happy to put some lettuce in the ground!

Well, do it when you can.

Strawberries and raspberries are going to get more expensive also. We had a levee break near Watsonville that flooded a lot of the fields used to grow these as well as the town and homes of a lot of the people that pick them.

Fortunately, the forecasted peak of the Salinas river on Monday was just a bit lower than they thought it would be.
It is supposed to crest again Friday night. It's supposed to be a bit lower than Monday, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

[aimo]

Well, do it when you can.

Strawberries and raspberries are going to get more expensive also. We had a levee break near Watsonville that flooded a lot of the fields used to grow these as well as the town and homes of a lot of the people that pick them.

Fortunately, the forecasted peak of the Salinas river on Monday was just a bit lower than they thought it would be.
It is supposed to crest again Friday night. It's supposed to be a bit lower than Monday, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

NC freezes are threatening our strawberries and some other fruit trees. Hoping not too many were actually budded yet.

Sorry, but nothing beats a NC strawberry! Except maybe a hard freeze!

[budwom]

Well, do it when you can.

Strawberries and raspberries are going to get more expensive also. We had a levee break near Watsonville that flooded a lot of the fields used to grow these as well as the town and homes of a lot of the people that pick them.

Fortunately, the forecasted peak of the Salinas river on Monday was just a bit lower than they thought it would be.
It is supposed to crest again Friday night. It's supposed to be a bit lower than Monday, so hopefully it won't be too bad.

always enjoy visiting there, viewing the strawberries in Watsonville, the garlic in Gilroy and the artichokes in Castroville...

[BigWayne]

NC freezes are threatening our strawberries and some other fruit trees. Hoping not too many were actually budded yet.

Sorry, but nothing beats a NC strawberry! Except maybe a hard freeze!

Best strawberries are ones you can get close to the source. The shorter they have to travel, the more ripe they can be.
If you can get them at the farm, even better.

[aimo]

Best strawberries are ones you can get close to the source. The shorter they have to travel, the more ripe they can be.
If you can get them at the farm, even better.

Both places I used to pick have closed to pick-your-own. I will drive to the other side of Durham to pick my own strawberries. Totally worth it!

[wandalee]

Both places I used to pick have closed to pick-your-own. I will drive to the other side of Durham to pick my own strawberries. Totally worth it!

R&R Cattle Services is a great place to pick strawberries. It’s in Orange County just across the Durham County border off of New Sharon Church Rd.

[aimo]

R&R Cattle Services is a great place to pick strawberries. It’s in Orange County just across the Durham County border off of New Sharon Church Rd.

Thanks! I was planning on going to Waller's this year, on Kerley. I am in southern Durham County, so it's closer, but good to know! I know people who pick at Lyon's in Creedmoor every year.

[howardlander]

R&R Cattle Services is a great place to pick strawberries. It’s in Orange County just across the Durham County border off of New Sharon Church Rd.

And a nice drive to get there as well. That's pretty close to where we live so we usually go out there at least once a season.

[BigWayne]

Both places I used to pick have closed to pick-your-own. I will drive to the other side of Durham to pick my own strawberries. Totally worth it!

I went to a pick your own place up the coast on the way back from a fishing trip, but it was a pain in the rear. Plants were picked over and you had to do a lot of bending over. Picking strawberries is not suited for big guys.
What I do like is a really nice farm we go by on the way to camping in the summer that has fresh picked strawberries with no bending over.

Back on topic, got my tomatoes planted outside yesterday now that it finally stopped raining for a couple days. They won't do too much until the ground warms up, but they were getting too big for the windowsill. First year being successful growing from seeds.

[budwom]

Sobering article recently on the fruits and veggies most susceptible to pesticide residue...berries and beans are way up there, thin skins and such, glad we get our blueberries from a friend who produces 200 gallons/year of organic blueberries...