Help. What is digging holes, how to trap??

[crothmeier]

At my place of business we have an animal digging multiple large holes around our property. we are on the edge of town, with a large mowed area bordered by a corn field. We have pallets of landscape block organzied out in the grass, and whatever this animal is, is digging/tunneling under the block pallets, under the cement sidewalk by our parking lot and out in the grassy areas. Holes are 7-8 inches in diameter. some are only a foot down, others i cant seen the end.

What would this be? And how easy to trap. looking for animal suggestions. We have alot of striped gophers in the grassy area, but their holes are only 2" in diameter.

[pikestabber]

One animal that immediately comes to mind is a woodchuck. They will dig a TON of holes in an area, and I mean a TON. They often frequent the same areas that gophers do, too. Your hole size/depth is consistent with a woodchuck, and if he is in the area, look for him to be holed up under your blocks or a shed, outbuilding, etc. I have shot a couple that were damaging my property, but if that is not an option there (which it sounds like it is not), then try this site. Seems to be pretty good info on trapping.

[crothmeier]

well we can get by shooting, problem is we have never seen it. ive been suggested that its a woodchuck. we can trap it, i'll check that site out for bait ideas. thanks for the info!

[pikestabber]

No problem, good luck.

One thing to consider if you can shoot is that they will come out in the middle of the day to forage, but they are VERY aware of what is going on around them. The last one I did battle with took me four different times of noiselessly sneaking around corners, etc., to try to catch him in the open. I would always just miss him as he ran back under a shed...five minutes later he was back out in the grass. If it is a high traffic area, you may need to catch him in the early AM. Let us know how it turns out...

[crothmeier]

yeah its not real high traffic, but wide open out here. i have pics of his handi-work but i dont know how to post them on here.

time to do battle!

[HunterLee]

Set a 160 or 220 conibear over the holes you think he is in, or find a nice little hiding spot and smoke him when he appears.

[goblueM]

post up on the roof with a .22

[johnsd16]

If there are literally TONs of holes, like many done in one night also consider a badger. One of their primary food sources are ground squirrels (striped gophers) and they can dig 20-30 short holes in one night hunting them. I have not seen where woodchucks dig many many short holes like you describe. Seven inches would be on the smaller side for a badger though.

Badgers are nomadic, it might have come through there for a couple of days and dug a hundred holes, never to come back. Or it might comback in a month, two months, next year. Who knows.

Pictures of the holes would help a lot.

[Ufatz]

Just make sure you NEVER confront a badger without at least a .458 in your hand. Those are fearless and nasty critters. Gotta admire them but I'll tell ya.....if badgers weighed 150 pounds mankind would be in grave danger!

Sounds more like these hole are woodchuck work. No sense in killing either one of these animals unless you HAVE to.

We have a BLACK woodchuck lives in a corner of our woods and he is one pretty critter!!

[reinhard1]

i have a woodchuck as well roaming around. so far i have seen no damage and he cant get into the garden. havent noticed any holes as previously mentioned but i do have the moles here and there. i dont believe i have ever seen a badger around my area here in andover. what areas are they hanging out in minnesota Ufatz? i know we have them in the state. good luck.

[Outdoor Authority]

reinhard I am not sure about down south here but up around the Menahga I seen one about 8 years ago while I was bow hunting bear. The badger came in and dug under the log to get at the bait. It was fun watching him go to down the bait. I havent seen one down here however.

[crothmeier]

ive seen a few badgers down here in sw minnesota. one was on the middle of the road as i drove by and he looked poised to fight my 1/2 ton pickup as i drove by. the other was in a ditch as i drove by.

no update as i havent set traps yet. i dont have hundreds of holes. probably in the neighborhood of 8-10. as far as i can tell only two are really deep/long. most i can see they end of, and they are only 12-16 inches deep. the two i cant see the end.

[Dave S]

I'm a half hour north of Mankato and we've got badgers here. They've been here for a few years now. As was mentioned earlier, they're digging for striped gophers. They roam looking for fresh scent and dig until they get their meal (usually at night around here). I've only seen them once but their presence is obvious. Especially when they burrow through gravel.

[123fish]

Southwest Minnesota has badgers for sure. They have holes all over the place where they dig out gophers (both striped and pocket). Pretty amazing to see a hole right smack in the middle of a hardpacked gravel road where they dug out a gopher. Actually never could figure out how a striped gopher could dig through that stuff either but they do all the time.

[reinhard1]

thanks for the info. they kind of remind me of a miniture wolverine. good luck.

[pushbutton]

Just go stick your nose by the holes, if it is a woodchuck, the main living burrows will stink like nothing else you have ever smelled. Live traps work O.K. Just put some carrots, potatoes, and or strawberries for bait. Poison is also effective but make sure there are not domestic animals around. And yep, some lead will also do the trick. If none of those work, give me a call; i have a piece of property filled with them, and have trained the groundhoginater....... he maybe old and hobbled, but moves like the matrix when there are small fury critters around. He also works cheap, just scratch his ears and give him some treats. This is actually a picture of him pouting after i yelled at him for eating about a half dozen frozen jumbo perch.

[trappingaddiction]

You may be surprised, but skunks will dig holes and live in them while raising their young.

[TooTallTom]

If you do post up with a .22, don't worry if you spook the critter into his hole. A good stalk is great, but if he busts you and runs, just run to where you have a clear shot into his hole. Woodchucks are (in my experience) are pretty curious little guys, and will often check you out from the "safety" of their hole. I guess, like deer, they don't really understand firearms, either.

I actually kind of like the little buggers, but you just can't have them around digging under foundations, etc...

I've been watching this thread with interest, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion. Just don't go all Caddyshack on them...

[Ufatz]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use poison. It is the dark death that keeps on giving.

Just......don't.

[Archerysniper]

Garden hose funnel and ammonia, what ever is in those tunnels will come out.

[goblueM]

I've been watching this thread with interest, and I'm looking forward to the conclusion. Just don't go all Caddyshack on them...

they're like the vietcong... varmintcong

[TooTallTom]

It's all about superior intelligence and firepower...

[Archerysniper]

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/3lYm0c7gYyU

[video:youtube]http://youtu.be/Bv87T1CQF8E

[crothmeier]

Traps are out. found a few more holes today... war has been declared.

[crothmeier]

by the way i'm baited with cantaloupe. apparantly after doing much google research these guys love cantalope.

[crothmeier]

FAIL. cantalope eaten, trap didnt deploy.... time for more cantalope and a more lightly set trap.

[Archerysniper]

Try to get the food in where they cant reach in from the outside of the cage, some of the smaller live traps are hard because the can reach the food though the mesh.

[crothmeier]

the trap i got has a double mesh around the bait area so that he cant eat it from the outside. i think i had the trap set too doo. i have it set alot lighter now. a good bump and it slams shut. funny thing is he dug another tunnel on the other side of the trap. now there is two holes, one on each side of the trap.

i also added some landscaping to the trap. grassed the bottom and sides. we shall see.

[crothmeier]

live trap has been abandoned.

connibear trap in place.

[TooTallTom]

I hope the conibear works better for you. Is lead poisoning a possibility in your situation?