Never saw this before, any help appreciated

[jennifer28]

Farmette, groundhog = woodchuck
That's exactly the critter I was talking about.

[ScottinAtlanta]

Lord have mercy, that is one ugly rat looking beast. Glad we don't have them in Georgia.

[kath]

[QUOTE=ScottinAtlanta;278371]... that is one ugly rat looking beast...

We have them here, too- DH thinks they're "cute".

[jennifer28]

Originally Posted by ScottinAtlanta

Lord have mercy, that is one ugly rat looking beast. Glad we don't have them in Georgia.

LOL Scott.

You don't like Punxsutawney Phil?

I don't like him or his relatives either. They are agressive and destructive. And if you feed them, they will hang around and come when they are called, I have seen people do this and it freaks me out.

[nctomatoman]

I seem to have made my new groundhog pest go away for a bit....found his nest (was living under a tree - at the hollowed out base - in back of my garden) - flooded it (made him leave), then added a bottle of bleach, a gas-soaked towel, and the contents of two weeks of our cats litter box "stuff". Got a have a heart trap out there too...haven't gotten the critter yet, but hasn't eaten anything since I messed the nest!

[Farmette]

Originally Posted by jennifer28

Farmette, groundhog = woodchuck
That's exactly the critter I was talking about.

Yes, I guess they are the same critter. But, I'd rather think about them as "woodchucks" rather than "groundhogs". As Kath said, some people think they're cute. This one was actually in the church garden that I help maintain. We tried humanely trapping it, but that didn't work. So, someone took matters into their own hands and he was "all gone". When a cross appeared in the garden with "Mr. Woodchuck, RIP", some people were very offended.

[kath]

Originally Posted by jennifer28

You don't like Punxsutawney Phil?

DH was born in PA- maybe that's why he's so fond of them! I'm a Jersey girl and never heard of Punxsutawney Phil until we moved here in '86 and got TV out of Philly instead of NYC.

[LBlala]

Same thing has been happening to my plants! & I live in an urban area also. A few leaves or stems gone here & there off my young squash plants & tomatoes, while all my cucumbers & beans have been chomped off, only a couple inches of naked stems remain (oddly only the heirloom amethyst, not the hybrid 'jade'). Just appear to be clean cut off.
The most unnerving part is there are never leaves or stems to be found anywhere around. I'm new at this but I didn't think the slugs, ants, or the nasty earwigs would be that hungry, & seemed odd to me birds would just eat/carry stems away (completely naive??)
I live on a residential street but right in downtown.. There are no rabbits or deer, but we do have ally cats, raccoon, possums, mice &.... rats (not in my house, just in the neighborhood). Over rats, I'd MUCH rather it be a woodchuck/groundhog, poisonous snakes, whatever! Guess its time to try some wire mesh stuff, make it a bit harder for whatever it is.. I'll freak if I wake up & all my tomato plants are reduced to sticks. Cucumbers, etc, are *somewhat replaceable...

[OneDahlia]

I saw our culprit yesterday -- another groundhog. He's a smart one. He goes far enough into the trap to eat the strawberries that are in front of the plate that trips the door, but he doesn't step on the plate to get the rest.

Kath, I thought they were kind of cute until last year's ate every single Brandywine tomato in my garden (only large tomatoes I grew last year) the day they started to think about starting to blush. He was even less cute after he lunged at me in the trap.

Even rabbits aren't quite as cute anymore. Isn't it funny how the story of Peter Rabbit looks a little different after you have a garden?

The peppers that were munched on are growing new leaves and looking pretty good.

[OneDahlia]

Oh my ... there is an opossum in the trap this morning. New thread coming while I figure out what to do. Looks like this may not be a garden pest.

[Farmette]

Had one in our garage once. I guess they can be QUITE mean...be careful!

[kath]

Originally Posted by OneDahlia

I saw our culprit yesterday -- another groundhog. He's a smart one. He goes far enough into the trap to eat the strawberries that are in front of the plate that trips the door, but he doesn't step on the plate to get the rest.

Kath, I thought they were kind of cute until last year's ate every single Brandywine tomato in my garden (only large tomatoes I grew last year) the day they started to think about starting to blush. He was even less cute after he lunged at me in the trap.

Even rabbits aren't quite as cute anymore. Isn't it funny how the story of Peter Rabbit looks a little different after you have a garden?

The peppers that were munched on are growing new leaves and looking pretty good.

I saw your other post before this one- you really need a fence! Those are some scary big critters to be dealing with up close and personal- for me anyway...DH deals with the live trapping. We live in the woods and I love all the wildlife we have- outside of garden season and outside of the garden. It is funny how your impression of deer, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, deermice, etc. is quite different once they develop a craving for your choicest produce.

Happy to hear your peppers are recovering.

[JohnWayne]

Fishing line strung across a garden is a great way to keep out crows. Crows are very smart birds and they remember. The least touch of a wing on the fishing line and they become entangled. I've yet to ever catch one. I put out the line and I don't see any more crows.

Don't leave any loose line hanging, Robins and such love the looks of it for nesting and getting one untangled takes a razor, and in my case a good pair of reading glasses and a good deal of patients.

Being that you live in an urban area, don't discount rats. Building live traps can be lots of fun. Peanut butter makes a good bait but nothing works for rats like almost burned bacon.

[Atomic Garden]

I had the same problem with my jalapeños. In my case it was snails. I went out at night with a flashlight and caught them in the act. Not sure what kind of fertilizer snails make but I have a corner of my yard that has over 100 of em' in there. I then followed up with Sluggo Plus pellets. Haven't seen a snail in about a month now. I would clear all of the dead foliage off the ground then take a look at night to see what is going on. Curious about the labels. Never knew birds pulled them out.

[Crandrew]

Originally Posted by JohnWayne

Fishing line strung across a garden is a great way to keep out crows. Crows are very smart birds and they remember. The least touch of a wing on the fishing line and they become entangled. I've yet to ever catch one. I put out the line and I don't see any more crows.

Don't leave any loose line hanging, Robins and such love the looks of it for nesting and getting one untangled takes a razor, and in my case a good pair of reading glasses and a good deal of patients.

Being that you live in an urban area, don't discount rats. Building live traps can be lots of fun. Peanut butter makes a good bait but nothing works for rats like almost burned bacon.

Fishing line for crows? can you explain this one a bit more?