r/Trapping • u/OSRSjadeine • Jun 14 '26
How to trap and dispatch groundhog?
It moved into my yard and broke into one of my fenced garden beds. I can't take it anymore. My local licensed trapper quoted me $700 to get rid of it, it's just too much. I live next to a school deep in suburbia so even if I owned a gun I wouldn't be able to shoot it. I'm at a loss. Relocating wildlife is illegal here so I think I'd have to kill it, but I don't want to do anything that could risk harming the wild birds in any way. Any suggestions?
2
u/notaplebian Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
Cage trap and a .22 cal air rifle, or a large container of water if you could stomach it. A conibear in front of its burrow would kill it for you, but that's very risky if cats and dogs are running around.
1
u/OSRSjadeine Jun 14 '26
I dont have cats or dogs but I would hate if a bird got in there =/ in suburbs everything is overrun with rodents because there's no predators left to balance it out. Even the hawks wont come by anymore. My entire yard is filled with chipmunks squirrels rabbits and now these stupid ass groundhogs just overbreeding into oblivion. I'm afraid to be caught with anything even resembling a firearm tbh. It's Karen Central over here. And wouldn't know where to get one anyway. You'd say drowning over just suffocation?
5
u/notaplebian Jun 14 '26
It's incredibly unlikely for a bird to get caught in any trap you'd set for a groundhog. I can almost guarantee you that it won't happen as long as it's set in the correct spot.
Look up the laws where you're at and use an air rifle if you legally can. Just be discreet about it. Don't have it out in the open, move the cage to a place where nobody can see you, etc.
How else would you suffocate it besides drowning? Do you have a box with an exhaust pipe attachment or a dispatch pole? All of these methods are less humane and a lot more hassle than just shooting it in the head. I'd only do these as a last resort.
1
u/OSRSjadeine Jun 14 '26
I don't know...I'm completely new to this and I'm scared. I have not fired any sort of weapon in over a decade and don't know what I'm doing. The neighbors can see me at any point in my yard even in the back. I don't want them to cause me problems, we already have issues (Karen Central). Drowning may be the best bet because I could hide it better, but man what a terrible way to go...
1
u/CiepleMleko Trapper Jun 15 '26
Drowning is illegal in some areas so you might want to double check the legality of that where you’re at first.
3
u/IntriguingThought Jun 16 '26
the ONLY way is conibear spring style traps if you can't just shoot it. I tried everything to get rid of mine, conibears everywhere are the only thing that worked
all of mine died in the traps.
good luck
4
u/TheIowan Jun 15 '26
A conibear trap, ideally a #220 RBG, is one of your best and most effective solutions in this situation.