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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2024 16:51
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The title is the Hint !
Many of us have to deal with the inevitable rodents that surround us in the wilds. I certainly have an abundant variety of the little blighters due to location and it always presents challenges every year.
Goundhogs are a most annoying gang of persistent rodents. We have been in a state of WAR for a couple of years and the battles are not going well. I have tried numerous "commercial" products and assorted methods with varying degrees of success. I don't even want to think of the Dollar Value wasted on this...
A SOLUTION Found & Ohhh LORDIE ITS STOOPID !
But Gosh Golly Gee Wiz IT WORKS ! ROFLMAO and so damned OBVIOUS it is certainly a FacePalm with a Cinder Block !
I was cleaning out the Darned Cat Litter box. I use that super-duper clumping clay stuff (great thing BTW) and while I was scooping it and smelling the Amonia form the pee clumps, I did the usual hacking that goes with it and VOILA - FACEPALM ! This stuff is EVIL plain & simple and bound into that clay ! My Evil Grinning Snicker Appeared
1 Giant Groundhog hole got FILLED with that Filty Dirty Evil Smelling Clay bonded ICK, then a Garden hose to Flush it IN REALLY Good, then more ICK and Water then the top soil etc and packed in. Guess Who has not gone home since ! I heard some angry chatter/natter near there but not one has even tried to go back. Likely because I broke up a couple of small cat Pee Clumps which I left sitting on top as deterrent.
I felt I ought to share as many of us have to cope with Ground Rodents and many of us have cats as well. If recycling the Cat Box Output into Rodent Holes forces them to relocate, it's a WIN. I think the Clumping Clay Litter is also likely the best as it will remain clumped & solid as it dries & hardens, also making it a plug (albeit quite a Vile one).
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Not sure how to classify this solution but heck if it works, costs nothing aside from having to hold your breath for a bit/ Why not.
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drb777
Member
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2024 18:19
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Great idea, I may have to try it.
Rodents, including squirrels, can be very destructive. Look what they did to my Tacoma;
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DaveBell
Moderator
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2024 19:37 - Edited by: DaveBell
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Peanut Butter glue traps and black rat snakes..
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paulz
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 13:42
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Yes great idea Steve. No rodent holes here, only seen a mouse or two run by. My friend has one of those 12v ultrasonic rodent repellent gizmos at his cabin, and another in his car. Don’t know a thing about them, how much juice they use, if they actually work…
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 14:16
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OHH LORDIE a Shocker this Morning !
I have seen the groundhogs near this hole & a couple of others. Never seen then go in.out but nearby so I "ASS"umed it was Groundhogs. NOPE !!!
Went out this morning to check and see if the hole was still plugged and it was not. So I grabbed the garden hose and promptly started filling the warren. After a few minutes & a LOT of water, a skunk pushed it's way out spitting & sputtering soaked to the bones... After it gave me an Evil Look and shook itself off it ran into another hole under my toolshed.
Holy Macaroni it Freaked me OUT !
Lucky it was more concerned about being drowned and a youngster (not stinky yet) and was not interested in spraying.
This has now become a whole new adventure !
I cannot Bait & Poison them because if any predator or carrion eater comes along, it would harm them and possible other critters which I would not want to harm.
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drb777
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 14:39
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Quoting: Steve_S This has now become a whole new adventure !
And the saga continues. Raccoons (not actually rodents) can be even worse. You're being tested and you probably already know the results. Keep the faith.
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drb777
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 14:45
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Steve S do you ever feel like Bill Murray in Caddyshack? (one of my all-time favorite movies).
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 18:05 - Edited by: Steve_S
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Considering where I live and the vastness of critters about, I am "way past" bill murray's adventures, just with the Chipmunks alone. Chippy's & Squirrels while cute are a Curse !
Even groundhogs are not really much a problem, simply because they avoid any areas with activity like most everything else does. Skunks also usually avoid "human" used areas when there is far more alternatives. Why this one or two decided that under my buildings was choice real estate is an issue.
95% of why I do not want a confrontation but rather prefer having Peppe Le Peu choose to relocate elsewhere on their own volition without offactory warfare.
--- EDIT Update.
Ohhh Shnootz ! Turns out that Big Momma skunk setup home under the toolshed and she is a seriously big creature ! Stuffed the garden hose into 1 of the holes at the base and chased in it and let it go... 30 minutes later Momma appeared at the edge, she slowly came out & ran into the bushes nearby... No Attempted Attack, when I saw her nose appear I backed off darned quick.
It's been an hour & half just running water under the toolshed in the 4 holes they have under the foundation beams, enough that it started to backwash. I suspect that if anything was down in a burrow, it drowned.
Skunks usually have a small litter and my first encounter was with a juvenile, hope only the one.
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Brettny
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 19:54
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Ground hogs dont care how many time you fill there holes in..they will just dig another one next to it. The only thing I have seen work is a body grip trap. Best $22 I have ever spent.
You could also spray a can of chlorinated brake clean down the hole and cover the entrances. I have used this method on u underground wasps too.
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ICC
Member
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2024 23:57
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It would be great if Momma Skunk takes the flood as an omen and moves someplace where she'll have more privacy.
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jsahara24
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2024 10:05
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Good luck with the eviction! We have a major groundhog problem at our farm, they dig under our buildings, fields, woods. They are a major nuisance, my current warfare includes target practice!
Go for a slow walk with a shooting stick and have some fun, but it sure seems like we can't even reduce the population unfortunately.....
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Steve_S
Member
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2024 12:22
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Groundhogs are certainly problematic but can be dealt with in many ways. Skunks on the other hand come with other issues. Their natural defenses ARE an effective deterrent! I sure as heck do not want to deal with a dead decomposing skunk under my buildings ! Nooo no no no no !!!
2 Nights have passed and no attempted return as yet ! I did continue by dropping some of my cats litter Pee Clumps at the holes which according to many Vets is an excellent deterrent and so far seems so. It is also suggested for groundhogs as it is a predator scent.
To this date, I have not had a skunk unload on my property and honestly I will avoid things that could cause such.
PAST EXP: If you do shoot a skunk, it will spray as it dies, be aware of that. Lesson learned when I was a teen and did just that when we went to clear groundhogs & skunks from the pastures after a cow broke a leg thanks to a hole. After having been heavily "scented" lesson learned & skunks got more fearful respect !
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2024 15:11
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I have had problems with squirrels eating the wiring on the oxygen sensors in a van I use infrequently. My latest attempt to prevent problems involved leaving a vented container of moth balls under it and taping wire mesh from a stainless steel scouring pad over the wire. Using your suggestion, I am also sliding a pan full of cat litter waste under the van as well. Hopefully, it will keep them at bay. Thanks
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Nobadays
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2024 20:11
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We've had good luck using Fresh Cab botanical rodent repellant in our vehicle engine compartments. Have a packet in every vehicle as well as the tractor and the snowmobile. As yet no chewed wires. LINK, but I get it at Tractor Supply
We have been fighting a rat problem the last week or so. They hadn't destroyed anything but have "messed" all over the back deck furniture and the grill. Put out 4 rat traps with various baits. Chocolate, granola, crackers and peanut butter. One tripped the granola trap the first night but got away. They were leery the second night but caught one the third night... again he liked the granola. Got one more last night on granola, the crazy thing was he tripped the trap but it didn't catch him or he got out... hair on the trap... he only made it about 10 feet and died so it must have hit him pretty good!
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darz5150
Member
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# Posted: 2 Oct 2024 23:21 - Edited by: darz5150
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Have you ever tried baking soda mixed with mashed potato flakes or powder. I've mixed it with a potato cup from the store. Really any brand will do. I mix it about 50/50. Then put it in old lids like a Pringles lid. Put it in corners or any place rats or mice run.
It works.
Years ago I did this with plaster instead of baking soda.
Another good one is putting soda pop mixed with the golden malrin fly poison. They drink it up and.  
The baking soda is the cheapest.
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Tim_Ohio
Member
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# Posted: 3 Oct 2024 14:20
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Nobadays,
Thanks for the tip on the repellent. I'm going to try it too. People suggested the ultrasonic plug in deterrent works, but I have a dog around the area and have heard it will annoy the dog. So, I haven't tried one of those yet. I don't want to put poison down either for the same reason.
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