Ground hog advice

Snare recommendations for ground hogs. Son has one digging under house . It’s cage traps or snares. I have 3/32 cable and Camlocks can I make do with them? If I can make up a few and mail to the boy with instruction would be great as he’s 3 hours away. Otherwise it’s a shlep with my cages. Thanks gents!

I suppose the use of snares depends on where you are. NY decidedly frowns on using them.

https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/9209.html#Legal


It's not hard to catch them in a cage. They arent particularly destructive with them, so rather than bring them 3 hours away, I'd probably pick one up at tractor supply for $30 or so and get it done.

Thanks he’s in NJ that’s why I brought up snares. Great idea about buying a couple traps local and presenting him with them. Teach a man to fish kinda thing. I have a double door comstock trap with nosecone that I’m dying to score with! Could u recommend bait to use this time of year? Thanks again!

Your double door comstock would be great. Problem with snares is that they will pull down into the hole as far as they have extra cable. Problem with $30.00 trap is that a ground hog can break out of them. Posi set your comstock and you will not need any bait. JMO

Yeah, if you have a Comstock, go with that! You won't even need bait for that!


Never had a chuck, skunk, or opossum break a cage. Raccoons, a different stiry.

Thanks for all the advice! Im headed out and will put it to use! I will use the comstock as my son says there is just the one hole . Since I have a few Williams single door cages ,I will set one with a couple apples I have on hand. Couldn’t hurt. Lol Wish me luck!

If baiting, I'd go cantaloupe before apples.

Guess it was about 12 years ago that I dropped the woodchuck bait completely, no regrets. Much easier without bait, time saving and you don't have to buy bait or maintain it. Without bait and wait you have to be more of a trapper, able to find sign and capitalize on it. I have always been able to locate a den, trail, pinch point, structure, dig out or other, so bait was just not necessary. No waiting for a chuck to come to the bait, just took the traps to the chuck to take the guess work out of "I wonder if they will like my bait". Fewer non targetted catches to deal with that might come to bait or lure. I used double door pan traps for two years first before we had the wire triggers. Been with the wire triggers for just about 10 years now. Pans used to get dirt jammed up under them at times and didn't drop. With the wire triggers that doesn't happen. For different sized animals, i.e. baby ones, we sometimes build up dirt under a wire trigger to push them into the trigger wires. You can regulate the trigger height from the floor of the trap as needed. We have used the wire trigger traps of all lengths from 18 to 36. Longer means they have more uses, coon etc. but shorter means they fit in the truck better and are easier to place on site. We mostly use 18 and 24 long, but still use 30's too. Our season is just about to begin I would guess, warm rain today. Frost is just going out. For big chucks before the little ones emerge I'm going to experiment more with using a single trigger wire, the top one, to let them duck under and it the wire with the back of their neck to get deeper into the short 18 inch traps. With the longer traps there is no wrong way. Used a single wire on top once at the end of the season last year and did get a yearling chuck.

The downside of bait free is fewer snacks in the truck.


Just sayin...

Trust me, I still have plenty of snacks! nuts and chocolate from BJ's at the top of the list.

Same here! Lol

Best snack in a truck is spam in the foil pack! Last forever.

Nuisance groundhog trapping season began for me a month ago. The earliest ever, but they were out in the snow and digging under a house into a crawlspace.

Thanks to Jim’s traps I always look good to my groundhog customers. When I rarely do use bait, I still prefer Jim’s traps for the reasons he states above about pans. The 18” size are the stealth traps - very little digging or site adjustment is necessary. Sometimes, but not often, larger is necessary or better suited.

When trapping groundhogs at dens in the fall I catch many large raccoons in the 18” traps. They are really packed inside but never any damage to the traps.

Success gents!

Got em in the comstock with tomahawk nosecone! Next question do I reset or fill in hole and dats dat!

If it's still being used, they'll let you know by opening the hole back up!

You don't need a snare or a kill trap to catch a groundhog / woodchuck...and to do it with ease !
You just need to be on location and have a quality bait / lure with the right presentation !
Bob Jameson proved that a l o o o o ng time ago...

Anywhere a groundhog is living is the right location !
And bait ? Apples, pears, broccoli, cantaloupe, just to name a few.
It all works. Even banana will work and and synthetic liquid of the above fragrances mixed in fruit paste along with mulberry, will work very well.
Synthetic alfalfa, (aka: called New Mowed Hay) will do a number of them in a cage trap, but if left overnight, will also attract 'coon from great distances.

Not to take anything away from Jim Comstock's traps, because I have caught a number of animals in them, yet the best live trap I've used for ANY ground dwelling animal
is the Safeguard one with the hole opening in the floor.
Set right over the hole, it has but one choice and that's to come out and attempt to get through the end of the trap...and it will come out.
A nose cone made to fit most cage traps, when placed over the hole, will also work well.

Here, where I live, there aren't many groundhogs left.
The coyotes have killed them all.
I never kill one anymore on purpose.
But then, I'm not a hay farmer or one that raises soybeans.
They are far better digging burrows that are often times used by other animals.
Even quail have used them during storms with heavy snow fall.

* * * ( I wish I could figure out how to post a picture on here with this new format )

For chucks double door traps with nose cones, built in or add on accessory, are without question the most effective for chucks used without bait, coming and going. I have not used any bait for a chuck in at least 12 years. The single door trap from safeguard over the hole is a very limited device, will catch the chuck only exiting a den and must be set straight out from the den. Just an FYI, ten years ago I put a second door on a safeguard with the hole in the bottom. Worked great with the built in nose cone and double doors taking chucks coming and going. For anyone interested, Ronnie Vincent uses dozens of a multipurpose double door trap with the hole in the bottom, two doors and unique 4 way built in nose cone with flaps, hole in the bottom too, to be set not only straight out from a den but also sideways in either direction, which is important if there are obstacles to contend with like a boulder, a tree or hay rake. There are no disclaimers associated with a trap of this type. Will do it all.

Jim, how far will you go with a double door trap no bait. Can you set it on a heavy trail leading from a hole to a field? Will they go into it without being forced? I know the hole is the best place for it but I try to set up multiple locations to get in and out faster.

Next question how do you guys set the posi set on a steep hill? Use of a cone? So far I keep using my conibears in this case

In that spot I'd either set the hole, or the entrance to the field. If there was a pinch point along the route you could set there. If the trail is through the middle of a manicured lawn and there's nothing to make it easiest to go through the trap, they'll probably go around it. At least at first. Now if you add drift fencing to the mix you are back to having the trap be the easiest way to get through.

On steep slopes make a nose cone out of hardware cloth, or pile up debris from around the job site. Logs, branches, boards, brush, pavers..

If I don't have any material on site, I usually carry scraps in my truck for that purpose. I like using stuff from the job site as it smells as it should, not that I've noticed any difference whether it's my debris or the customer's. Residential animals live around people, they are used to smelling us. Scent isn't as big of an issue IMO.

Hey PARick, I actually go pretty far with the no bait thing for woodchucks and skunks, when I can at den sites too, with no regrets. I could use bait of course, but just don't have a need for it. Saves a lot of time and money not fooling with it, replacing, changing, having it go bad, just handling it. I got a gallon of Blackies bait many years ago and still have it. Found that trails in deep grass were fine, between bushes, along walls, under fences, sometimes with short drift fencing using aluminum sheets that go in in seconds. Skunks and chucks are pretty easy to direct. I like the metal nose cones with flaps because they fit on the trap in transit and take up no more space, light weight. If you catch a skunk when chuck trapping, as does happen from time to time, the metal cover keeps them from spraying. With a solid cover, if you do use bait, it does keep the bait fresher, no sun or rain on it. Of all the guys who dropped the use of bait with single door traps, while switching to double door traps without bait, I never heard of any going back to the old ways. Just too easy this way.

If a hillside is steep I will sometimes try to dig it out a bit and level it up somewhat, though perfectly level is not necessary. If you don't want to do any digging you can use a longer 30 inch trap on the hillsides.

Thank you both for the info. I plan on giving you guys a call or ordering online to get some double door traps

Do what Jim suggests and you should have success.

I do very rarely use bait in certain circumstances. When I do use bait it works. If others see one in a trap, they avoid a baited trap. I have video clips of them avoiding baited traps.

Best wishes.

Have to say that I truly feel sorry for clients who have first called a pest control company that hires kids when both company owners and kids know as close to nothing about the profession as you can get and what they are doing, but of course still charge for the "service" such as it isn't when they are totally unsuccessful in catching the targetted nuisance animal. Yesterday I was told that for a week a couple of single door pan traps baited with carrots sat in a yard while the woodchuck of course went about his business, paying no attention to what was offered. I did spend 20 minutes blocking off a good sized deck, but a few hours later the chuck was boxed in the single positive set I had made in a double door cage trap that took but a minute to place. Removing the element of "chance" is well worth the effort in blocking when compared to the time and expense in extra trips.

Too funny. Just talked to a friend who said he had a client who hired another trapper first, but didn't connect. He set four baited traps with tuna fish, for woodchucks. Got 4 cats the first night, 2 of those and a possum on the second night. Got a good laugh out of that. Hope I'm not offending anyone who uses tuna for chucks. LOL.

I have seen some big name companies technicians use granola bars for chucks and squirrels many times.

Jim Comstock. . .

Would you please post some pics of the funnels you are creating?

Guess you are referring to nose cones. I will get Judy to post some pics or if anyone else has some perhaps they can too.

The RBG Is the best trap for the job. Place It in the hole stake and stabilize and your good to go. No bait no cage traps the chuck comes out of the hole and It's dead.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg? She's death to woodchucks too?

LOL
Round Body Grips. But then you knew that.

Body grips set in front of holes are not legal in all states.

That may be true but If It's legal then It's the way to go.

220 conibear set in the hole.

A 220 pinned in front of a den is deadly - precisely why it is not permitted in Ohio on land unless enclosed so not accessible from the outside and anchored to prevent access. For a particular job I built a couple enclosures with hardware cloth so it looks open from the inside. Sort of like an inside out cubby box set. Yes it worked in that specific location because from camera use I knew that the last one was inside.

In Ohio the largest bodygrip trap without an enclosure we can use at a den for groundhogs is a 5”x5”. With 2 springs they are powerful enough but far from the ideal trap. This size works better with some guide sticks. The size of the 220 is perfect at 7x7”, but again not legal to use without the enclosure.

Most of the calls for groundhog trapping are from customers in places that because of kids, pets, and strays setting anything but a cage trap is foolish. With the 2 door 9x11x18” Comstock they get caught the first time in or out. Those traps with 2 types of nosecones are my bread and butter groundhog traps.

Sometimes there are very unusual circumstances that require different methods. For example a groundhog that somehow got into a basement. I used a 9x11x24” Comstock with both doors open and bait in the middle. Apple slices on the wires did the trick.

I suggest to anyone that you use cameras whenever possible. Not only is it entertaining, but it will help you be a better trapper. For example at a lawn tilling job that appeared to be raccoon damage I was not catching anything. It did not make sense. Initially all of my cameras were out elsewhere. The homeowner was a cheap grumpy miserable guy And complained that 2 nights and no catches. It troubled me why no catches. On the third night I did not mention it and put 2 cameras at the job and caught the wife out there on a smoke break looking in every trap at least once per hour and usually more frequent than that and almost all night. Sometimes every 15-30 minutes. I asked wife to smoke elsewhere and the fourth night caught two large old boar raccoons. No more lawn shredding.