Do mothballs get rid of groundhogs?


Dave Campbell

A norm these days online is home remedies and all the rage these days. You can find numerous suggestions about anything online. Some are good and others well not so great at keeping groundhogs away form your property!

However, one of these home remedies stands out, “Does mothballs get rid of groundhogs?

The wild animal has brought up many a home remedy with one that comes to mind jalapeno hot sauce.  Some swear it works, but is it as useful as mothballs to get rid of groundhogs? Let us find out here!

Solving the problem

Well, to answer the questions’ a bit complicated. To some extent, mothballs and jalapeno hot sauce can get rid of whistle pigs(groundhogs) in your yard. However, it does not stop them from coming back for another meal in your garden.

If you do notice a groundhog burrow in the yard, you can take a handful of mothballs and pour it into the entrance. The smell of the repellent will prevent the critter from using the hole for a couple of weeks.

On the other hand, it will only last until the smell of groundhogs dissipates. You can keep throwing handfuls of mothballs at the different entrances, but it does not prevent them from finding a new one back into the yard.

Therefore, it is a useful stoppage, but you will need to use it with more groundhog preventions, offering you the best solution.  Why, because the woodchuck might look cute, but groundhogs are sly and destructive.

In some circumstances you might have to call a professional wildlife removal expert for a groundhog problem, but what can you do to keep groundhogs away yourself?

Other Repellents that Work

One of the most effective and inhumane ways to get rid of groundhogs is with a trap. Once you catch them, you can release them a couple of miles away from your property. However, while groundhogs are not aggressive, it will bite you if threatened. Therefore what precautions should you take before you try and repel groundhogs?

You need to wear rubber gloves to prevent transferring sent to the trap when preparing it. Make sure to place the cage about 10-feet from the burrow. Furthermore, camouflage it with dirt and water and throw leaves, grass, and twigs on the top of the ground and inside the cage. To prevent the trap from rattling, place two bricks on top.

You can bait the trap groundhogs with food the groundhog loves like veg or fruit from the garden. Moreover, you can create a trail with the bait from the garden to the trap. Now all you need to do is keep an eye out for groundhogs as once trapped; it will become anxious injuring itself. Cover the trap with a towel and transport the groundhogs away from home, at least a couple of miles if possible.

As you can see, this is one of the best humane ways to repel groundhogs. However, you can take precaution preventing them from returning to your property:

  • You can build a fence that is up to two feet in the ground standing three feet tall around the garden
  • Now spray the barrier with some pepper spray and make sure to spray the yard as well.
  • Alternatively, you can place some dog or cat hair in mesh bags around the fencing as well. You can even use crushed garlic, as groundhogs do not like the smell.

Always keep the garden trimmed from foliage and remove leaves and dirt, preventing them from finding cover. The reason is that with less coverage, they will not feel safe to start digging tunnels. Most importantly, if there are burrows present, make sure to fill them as well.

Other alternatives are to create vibrations by placing lawn windmills in the ground. You can even use spinning wheels or a sonic device places at the entrance of the burrow to repel groundhogs. On the other hand, wind chimes also cause massive disturbance for these animals.

Moreover, you can also smoke them out but always look for the most humane way to do this, preventing killing the groundhog.

  1. Use lime as it burns the groundhogs feet by spreading it near the entrance of the hole. The fantastic thing is that you can spread the lime around the vegetation as well to prevent the groundhogs from eating it.
  2. Some folks believe that vinegar for groundhogs can be effective
  3. Another humane way is to sprinkle talcum powder in your garden.
  4. You can use chicken wire as prevention around the garden.
  5. Furthermore, you can buy animal repellent to help discourage the groundhogs from entering the yard. Some people swear by ammonia for groundhogs.
  6. Lastly, nor everyone will be comfortable with this, and there are ethical considerations, but as a last resort, you can shoot groundhogs if nothing else works. However, it is best to exhaust all other options for your groundhog problem first.

Final thoughts

When trying to rid your garden of the groundhog, try to find the most humane way to get rid of them. While the above are great ways to get rid of groundhogs, another solution is to get a dog or cat, as they are a threat to the animal.

Another solution is to scatter some of your hair around the yard. By doing this, it spoils the natural habitat of the groundhog. The critical thing to remember is there are many means of ridding your garden of the pest. While mothballs have an unbearable smell, it will not scare the rodent away.

The groundhog is one of those animals that even bite through wood; they love vegetation and occasionally even eat small animals. Furthermore, if any of the above methods do not work, we recommend you call in a professional wildlife removal company to get rid of groundhogs safely and humanely as possible.

Sources:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/g/groundhog/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog

Dave Campbell

I'm Dave Campbell and the owner of deadpestz.com. You can read more about me and my background on my About Me page.

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