groundhogs in the pasture

mightyhijames · Postby **mightyhijames** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 11:17 am

i'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem but this is the first time i've had to deal w/groundhogs and their holes in my pasture. i have a live trap, i've read about gas 'bombs', does anyone have any other suggestions?

Diane · Postby **Diane** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 12:17 pm

I used to flood irrigate my pastures with a shovel and 5 dogs in attendance. It was great fun on a warm sunday afternoon. It requires diligence to stay ahead of the population. Now we have acres of lawn and I have a service that makes a good attempt at controlling gophers, squirrels and voles. They use gas and pellets. I personally lit 100 bombs over 2 weeks and drowned a few with my hose before I gave up and hired the service. I choked and gagged myself but didn't kill anything with the bombs. Pellets are effective but diligence is the key. Good luck

walaa · Postby **walaa** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:08 pm

dogs

Esp. crazy brindle dogs, and pit bull

mixes

walaa · Postby **walaa** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 3:12 pm

I think this guy weighed almost as much as my dogs

Luckily they are not in my field, but plenty in the empty acreage on either side of me. which I want to buy, so I am looking forward to the advice on getting rid of them, I dont think the dog thing is enough for all of them

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 5:51 pm

Cute bugger. The things you folks have to go through raising horses. You all have my respect.

majxmom · Postby **majxmom** » Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:35 pm

I don't have ground hogs, but I have ground squirrels. I usually dump a wheelbarrow of manure in the hole so that it forms a dome over it, and they seem to find another place after a while. However, a good dog really helps. I had a catahoula that would spend her entire day out in the pasture with her head cocked like the RCA dog, and she always got her man. Since she has passed, the population has been ever increasing despite the presence of three other lazy dogs.

griff · Postby **griff** » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:17 pm

I had an English Pointer that loved catching ground hogs.. Sometimes she came in pretty bloody and chewed up and I can understand why some dogs opt to leave them alone.

griff

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:17 am

Personally I don't have the stomach for killing animals-unless they need to die (ie kittens with broken necks ect.) Even then I cry for hours after.

However, I do have a big playful dog whom does not seem to have the same problem.

In the past I have tried my best to tactfully relocate any unwanted rodents in my barn & pastures.

Honestly, my biggest problem have been Kill Deer (birds) that lay their eggs in my jumping arena. They will abandon their nests if they are moved-which usually means that I have to move my jumps & put cones around the nests.

griff · Postby **griff** » Thu Apr 23, 2009 4:58 pm

must not be a very busy jumping area.

griff

Vindicated · Postby **Vindicated** » Mon Apr 27, 2009 9:10 am

It would usually happen over the weekend while we were at shows
Fri-Sat-Sun (horses off Monday)...
No one was ever allowed to jump if the instructor was off the property.

Diane · Postby **Diane** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 9:27 am

Walaa my gelding would probly take care of something that big himself,LOL, he chased my big brown goose 30 yds last week. He got so close to chomping/stomping him I was running, yelling and flapping my arms trying to get his attention. The goose was running, flapping and honking looking for a way out. It was a sight. Here I've been worried about the D*M coyotes and my own horse might be the predator.

Skipitgirl · Postby **Skipitgirl** » Tue Apr 28, 2009 10:17 am

Get an austrailian cattle dog....or borrow mine!

mightyhijames · Postby **mightyhijames** » Tue May 12, 2009 5:12 am

to date, we've caught four groundhogs in a live trip and disposed of them humanely. they all seem to live in the same hole, how many more can there be? this does not appeal to me at all but it beats having one of my horses breaking a leg.

walaa · Postby **walaa** » Tue May 12, 2009 8:01 am

My paint pony (who is free to good home

) is the same way as your gelding, Diane. She HATES anything in her pasture. She will run down my dogs, her and my 5 yr t-bred trampled by bulldog the other day, she is lucky to be only scraped and limping

That was last week or so, she is already better, but I cant let them out anymore loose. She has tried to stomp my finish mower, challenges the harrow, and has charged the actual tractor a couple times :!:

I feel for the poor coyote who stumbles onto our property

and she constantly harrasses the big horses and the the other pony, which is why I have tried to sell, then give her away. They all seem to like her, but she just never stops getting into something, banging on doors, running something over etc. Anyone need a coyote stomper :?:

zinn21 · Postby **zinn21** » Wed May 13, 2009 7:34 am

A friend of mine was telling me they have some sort of a gun that shoots air down the hole and ground squirrels come shooting out of the grown ten feet in the air. Said it was effective on ground squirrels.