This afternoon I was out in the yard and discovered a groundhog had tried to dig two holes under the storage building in the yard. One he had just started and the other was a small hole but I didn’t think he had succeeded yet in getting under the shed. The holes were in my hollyhock bed. I filled the holes in and went to gather eggs and feed my hens. I came back about twenty minutes later and the larger hole was redug and enlarged. He was definitely now under the shed. That rascal is fast.
I filled the hole in again and went to water the greenhouse and feed the baby chicks. I came back and the hole was reopened and he had worked on the second hole again. I went to Gene with my problem. I baited and set a trap by the closed up hole and left. About twenty minutes later, the hole was opened again. That was four times in maybe an hour.
Hubby to the rescue.
Hubby hooked the hose to the exhaust on the truck and stuck the hose under the building through his hole and carefully packed dirt and mulch around to seal it. He piped the fumes under the shed for probably two hours. At one point the groundhog did some frantic scratching and pushing on the metal but then all was quiet. Hopefully he went nighty night, permanently, before he had a chance to do lots of damage and destroy my garden and flower beds. I could hardly believe how fast he worked.
My prized hollyhocks are stock from Dad Hertzler’s in Denbigh that he brought to Powhatan fifty plus years ago. When the hollyhocks and roses start blooming I think summer is here; blooming after the daffodils, tulips and peonies.
One hour later…..
I came in, smugly wrote my blog post and went back out to check on my success.
He won!
Rascal!
I hope he is running for his life cause I am hot on his trail!
Wands Starke Said:
on May 27, 2019 at 7:59 am
Hes a tough one. The hollyhocks are beautiful. One of my favorites.
Karen Said:
on May 27, 2019 at 1:27 pm
Do you really want him lying dead under your shed to decompose? Stinky!!
Pat Said:
on May 27, 2019 at 2:06 pm
No, we thought of that and especially since we have a graduation party in our yard this Sat. We are now trying to trap him.