Groundhog Control: Keep Woodchucks Out of Gardens and Away From Your House

Your beans are gone overnight, there is a big hole by the shed with a fan of fresh dirt in front of it, and a heavy brown animal waddles off when you open the back door. That is a groundhog, also called a woodchuck. Groundhogs eat a lot of garden, and their burrows can cause real trouble when they dig under a deck or along a foundation. This guide covers how to confirm a groundhog, fence your garden, close off spaces near the house and stay within your state’s rules.

How to identify a groundhog

Groundhogs are large burrowing squirrels, closely related to marmots. Adults are chunky, with short powerful legs, long curved claws on the front feet and grizzled gray-brown fur. Their eyes, ears and nose sit high on the head, so they can peek out of a burrow while staying mostly hidden.

• Size: head and body about 16 to 20 inches, with a short furry tail of 4 to 7 inches.
• Weight: usually 5 to 10 pounds. MassWildlife notes they can reach about 14 pounds by fall, before hibernation.
• Sounds: a shrill whistle when startled. One of their nicknames is “whistle pig.”
• When you see them: feeding in early morning and evening, sometimes sunning on warm days.

If plants are snipped low and there is no burrow, compare the damage with our rabbit control guide. If the animal under your deck is black and white, read our guide to skunks instead.

Groundhogs live across the eastern and central US and into Canada. Their range reaches west to northern Idaho, northeastern North Dakota, central Nebraska, eastern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma, and south to about northern Alabama.

Signs of groundhogs

• The main burrow entrance: a hole 10 to 12 inches wide with a large mound of excavated soil and rocks in front. A groundhog often sits on this mound to keep watch.
• Hidden entrances: one to three back doors, dug from below, with no dirt pile. They are easy to miss and matter when you trap or exclude.
• Garden losses: whole plants eaten down, especially soybeans, beans, peas, carrot tops, alfalfa and clover.
• Gnawed woody plants: chewed bark on fruit trees and ornamental shrubs.

Groundhogs usually feed within about 50 to 150 feet of the den, so the burrow is rarely far from the damage.

Why groundhogs move in near houses

Groundhogs dig at the edge of open ground: fence rows, brushy hedgerows, stone walls and woodland edges. Around homes, they also burrow under sheds, porches, decks and walkways, and a vegetable garden nearby supplies the food.

They mate in March and April and have one litter of about four young. The young are weaned and leave by about late June or early July, and they often take over empty dens. Groundhogs hibernate from late fall to late winter and come out again in late February or March.

Risks and damage

• Foundations and structures. Penn State notes that burrows can damage building foundations. MassWildlife says a burrow’s main shaft can run up to 50 feet, and groundhogs will burrow under sheds, porches, decks and walkways.
• Trip and equipment hazards. Holes and mounds are a hazard to horses, riders and farm equipment.
• Garden and orchard loss. Groundhogs feed heavily on vegetables and gnaw fruit trees and shrubs.
• Rabies. Penn State lists woodchucks as a potential rabies carrier, which is why Pennsylvania does not allow trapped ones to be moved to other land.

Never corner or handle a groundhog. Tooth chattering or popping is a warning that a bite may be coming. If you or a pet is bitten or scratched, wash the wound right away with soap and water and get medical care promptly, as the CDC advises after any possible rabies exposure.

How to keep groundhogs out, step by step

1. Fence the garden

A well-built fence protects a garden, and it keeps rabbits out too.

Groundhogs are good climbers, so the outward-bent top matters. Keep weeds trimmed along any electric wire so it does not short out.

2. Seal off decks, sheds and porches

Close the spaces before a groundhog moves in. If one is already living there, it has to leave before you seal anything.

• Seal crevices, gaps and holes along foundations and under structures.
• Run a barrier of heavy wire mesh down at least 12 inches into the ground around the base of decks, sheds and porches, since groundhogs will tunnel under a skirt that stops at the surface.
• Bending the bottom of the mesh outward in an L, as with a garden fence, may help stop digging.
• Never seal an opening while an animal may be inside. Watch the entrances, and avoid closing a den in spring and early summer, when young may be underground. Penn State notes the young are weaned and leave by about late June or early July.

3. Use repellents and scare tactics with low expectations

Commercial repellents have had little success, according to MassWildlife, and Penn State reports none registered for woodchucks in Pennsylvania. The ICWDM notes that a powdered fox urine product is registered with the EPA and has shown some effect on crop damage. Scarecrows give short relief if you move them often. A territorial dog behind a fence can help.

4. Trap only within your state’s rules

Live trapping is legal in many places, but what you can do with the animal afterward varies.

• Pennsylvania classes woodchucks as game animals, but lifts protection when they damage property. Because of rabies concerns, a trapped groundhog must be released on your own property or euthanized. Moving it to other land is not allowed.
• Massachusetts also requires a trapped animal to be released on the same property or humanely killed, and says it is illegal to move and release wildlife elsewhere. Poisons are not permitted for wildlife there.
• Most other states treat groundhogs as game or unprotected animals, with rules that vary. Check your state wildlife agency before you set a trap.

If trapping is allowed, use a cage trap at least 10 by 10 by 24 inches, set at the main entrance or a travel path, baited with fresh produce like apple slices or cantaloupe. Check it at least twice a day. Expect another groundhog to move into a good den unless you exclude it afterward.

Skip gas cartridges and poisons near the house. Gas cartridges carry a fire risk and should not be used under wooden decks, sheds or buildings. The fumigant aluminum phosphide is a restricted-use pesticide for certified applicators only. Exclusion and fencing solve the problem without either.

When to call a professional

A garden fence is a good DIY project. Groundhogs living under the house are a different job. Call a licensed wildlife control operator (sometimes called a nuisance wildlife or problem animal control agent) when:

• A groundhog is burrowing under a deck, porch, slab, stoop or foundation.
• You cannot find all the entrances, or you think young may be in the den.
• Your state limits what you can do with a trapped animal, or you do not want to handle one.
• The animal acts sick, aggressive or unafraid of people. Call your state wildlife agency or local animal control right away.

What a pro visit usually involves: an inspection to find every entrance, confirm the species and check for young; removal or eviction timed around the breeding season; then exclusion work such as a buried L-shaped mesh skirt around the deck or shed. Ask whether the foundation needs a contractor to look at it after the work.

Questions to ask: Are you licensed by the state for wildlife control? How will you make sure no young are left inside? What happens to the animal, and is that legal here? Is exclusion included, and is it guaranteed? Will you fill the burrow?

Our guide to choosing a pest control company has a full checklist, and what affects pest control costs helps you compare written quotes. For other animals around the house, start at the nuisance wildlife hub or see our guide to raccoons.

Groundhog questions

Can I just fill in the hole? Not while a groundhog is inside, and not before you find the hidden entrances. Fill and seal only once you know the den is empty, and add a buried mesh barrier so a new animal cannot reopen it.

Will groundhogs leave on their own? Do not count on it. Where food is plentiful, MassWildlife notes that new groundhogs quickly replace ones that leave or are removed, and Penn State says young groundhogs often move into empty dens in summer.

Are groundhogs dangerous to pets? A cornered animal may bite in self-defense. Keep pets’ rabies vaccines current, as the CDC advises, and keep dogs away from active burrows.