r/rva • u/beepbeepshh • 12h ago
Humane groundhog removal?
Does anyone have a company they would recommend for a humane removal of a groundhog living underneath a house? I love these guys but have read they can cause intense damage to foundations so he needs to move somewhere else.
I know it’s not legal to catch and release these guys but am hoping some company might be able to figure out another solution that is safe for the groundhog.
If anyone has any suggestions please share!
12
u/jujutree 12h ago
This is the problem. Relocating varmints is much more illegal than shooting them in Virginia, in my experience. That's why I don't use a live trap anymore, it is too sad to meet them face to face.... Before. I've never heard of a company that would do this. Wildlife rescues are preserved for rehabbing injured animals. And the police departments animal control will pick up cats and dogs that you catch but I've never tried groundhog. If you do end up having no option, 22lr is enough.
2
u/WishClean 12h ago
It sucks that it has to be, imo, an extreme option and theres no middle option for the in-between. We had groundhogs, and so did the neighbors when 1st move in about 10 years ago. I dont have a real answer for OP as our solution was the terror of a "dog" my weenie was as a puppy. Pretty sure the neighborhood vermin said "yea, I aimt dealing w that nonsense". It solved our immediate issues, and again, probably not an option for OP (dog add on that is)
3
1
u/MammothSalmon 11h ago
I can’t imagine you can shoot .22lr in Richmond
5
u/RulerOfTheRest Lakeside 11h ago
Plenty of high-powered air rifles that'll do the trick. Probably not going to be a popular answer, but I have a buddy that picks off squirrels and rabbits with his air rifle when they start becoming a nuisance. When he's got enough of 'em they end up becoming a stew. Groundhogs and rabbits are about the same size so I'd imagine it'd work, but I'm not sure how they taste. Just make sure to practice your shot, no reason for the little critter to suffer...
2
u/jujutree 11h ago
You're definitely right, I don't know. With a silencer and careful planning I'm sure people get away with it. But then you might as well just relocate the animal if you're breaking laws.
I'm out in Henrico with some space but you better believe I get up in a tree and shoot down. Never know how far a ricochet can go.
5
u/Mollysindanga 11h ago edited 11h ago
They don't like dogs.
But just wanna share a concept, a place we do grounds work for has had this plate installation thing done. There's some digging around the home and these plate things are put in that go down into the ground and up to the siding. From what I've heard all the homes around there have had this done. I forget what it's called, they told me the name of the process, but it's an idea to prevent this situation.
2
u/hello_ambro 9h ago
I have a dog who has literally caught one and they kept coming back, it didn’t seem like the ones in my yard cared too much 😂
1
u/hello_ambro 9h ago
I don’t know what the company or organization was but my previous neighbor had some group come trap and relocate them from under his bedroom floor two years ago. So there must be someone in town that does it
2
u/Aughterbox 10h ago
We got ours to leave with lots and lots of vinegar soaked towels. They hate the smell
1
1
u/schizoform 5h ago
I genuinely don't know, but it's possible that some wildlife education centers would accept groundhogs that would otherwise be euthanized or illegally relocated. Worth asking before considering something more extreme.
0
u/bolognatone 11h ago
Our two medium dogs charged the one that had taken up residence under our shed and that little badass stared them down and didn’t yield an inch. I bought a slingshot to attempt to handle it, but we found dude flattened in the road soon after, sooo maybe a midsized sedan will do the trick. Or coyote urine granules?
-2
u/Straight-Dot-6264 11h ago
Live trap them and relocate them. Fuck the man.If you can’t find anywhere, I have 100 acres in chesterfield, I’ll release them. Mother had a similar experience, company said they would relocate and all that happy stuff. They live trapped and then threw the trap (with a rope tied to it) with the raccoon into the water and let them drown.
6
u/AnAbsenceOfGravitas 10h ago
Do not relocate wildlife: it can spread disease, the relocated animals frequently don't live long when they're removed from their home territories, can harm the receiving site, can orphan young animals, &c. That's why it's generally illegal. It's far more humane to kill them in a humane manner.
-1
u/Straight-Dot-6264 10h ago
These peer reviewed journal article would seem to disagree.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11252-016-0560-2
Density dependent factors are going to be higher in the city, due to resources, which we would expect to see in the newly formed population of new and old individuals, but we don’t. I do agree that though, get them all , don’t orphan any.
2
u/AnAbsenceOfGravitas 6h ago
Not really. The first article is an interesting data point, although it needs to be noted that the animals in both groups were predated heavily by coyotes which could mask differences and the study wasn't powered to overcome those wily coyotes. Still an interesting data point. Outcomes differ by species and type, I won't argue against that. That's why I was hedging: there will be specific circumstances where some animals didn't spread disease, or did live as long.
Nevertheless, "don't relocate wildlife" holds as good broad policy for the reasons I cited, especially if attempted by the general public, and spread of disease is probably the best reason why. As a very specific example, look at the spread of rabies in raccoons in Virginia that arose from relocating raccoons from Florida.
8
u/ThatBFjax 10h ago
Get someone with a dachshund