Groundhog Removal in Monroe Township, NJ
Challenge
I went out on a service call for a homeowner in Monroe Township, NJ, who was experiencing an issue with groundhogs destroying his flower bed. How did he know it was a groundhog? Because he saw it from his kitchen window eating his flowers! I arrived and began inspecting the homeowner's backyard when I discovered something interesting near the shed — pawprints. I took a closer look and noticed a burrow on each side of the shed. After a thorough inspection, I concluded that these burrows were created by a groundhog and it was harboring underneath the shed.
The main opening of a groundhog burrow is 10 to 12 inches with a mound of dirt in front and are as deep as 5 feet and range in length from 8 to 66 feet. They tend to burrow near a tree base, building foundation or fence, anything that provides shelter for them. Groundhogs are herbivores that eat approximately 1/3 of their weight in vegetation each day. They are mainly active during the early morning and emerge from their burrows to gather food. If not properly controlled, groundhogs can cause serious structural damage when burrowing. Their tunnels break apart building foundations and they will often chew through electrical wires and irrigation systems that may be in their way.
Solution
In order to successfully and safely remove the groundhog, I installed a Dig Defence around the entire perimeter of the shed. A Dig Defence is a patented drive-in ground fence panel made up of strong 4 gauge steel rods. It deters the groundhog and any nuisance wildlife from digging underneath the shed. As I installed the Dig Defence I left each burrow open and installed a one-way device over the burrow. A one-way device allows the groundhog to safely exit the shed, but prevent it from getting back in.
Since the Dig Defence is installed around the entire perimeter of the shed, the groundhog will be unable to continue burrowing and leave. Once all the groundhogs have been safely removed from the area, we will fill in the burrows and properly seal up the remaining access points.
