Homesteading

[sheeplady]

We have the same problem. Our home is too residential to do something. But we had a major issue with roof damage from some of the local tree rats. For firs time in my life I needed a BB Gun. Everything I had in the safe was just far too dangerous to shoot in our neighborhood. So I purchased a moderately high-end pellet rifle. The problem was solved but not before $600 in damage to the roof.

You might be able to get away with a pellet rifle. Not that they can't be dangerous. They most certainly can. But it's a far safer option than a 3006.

And I won't recommend this by any means but a buddy of mine who is a scientist has gassed these critters out. He went totally WWI one them and figured out a way to gas them in their trenches. Even he ran away from the toxin he created. Not sure what it was. But if he says it was dangerous then it was probably banned by The United Nations.

I've also had luck with traps from the local hardware store but I have no idea how far you have to take your critter away before it won't come back.

See, I worry about safety. We currently live on a 50 by 100 foot lot, surrounded by other lots of the same size. We've got kids who run through the yards, etc. Also, while I know a pellet gun isn't a "true" gun, it is illegal to discharge a firearm here under the town ordinance. I also live next to a cop and two houses down is a lady who calls the cops on everybody. (She also sues everybody she can, but that is another story.) So... I use a pellet gun somebody is going to know.

My problem woodchuck lives under a neighbor's shed, but they are all over the neighborhood. If I smoked one out with a woodchuck "bomb" it would be replaced by another one. There's probably five on this block alone. Besides that, the neighbors aren't interested in getting rid of them, even when I offered to do the dirty work. They don't have gardens.

So, the new place I will bomb them. We'll only be in the current house another year, then I'll wave bye-bye to Mr. Woodchuck.

 

[Renault]

Gophers are a huge menace out in the oil fields in West Texas and New Mexico. They'll chew threw buried electrical lines and even the poly gathering lines.

Our gophers disappeared here when the fire ants moved in about 25-30 years ago. But I have noticed since they have put the hayfield back in shape across the road, their little mounds are returning. But still rare!

Years ago I remember using gopher bait on a "torpedo" we hooked up behind a tractor. The torpedo was hopper fed with poison milo, and it ran about 6" under the surface of the soil. We'd start in the middle of a field and run in increasing concentric circles about 15-20' apart until we had baited the whole field. I e notice several fields between here and town that appear to have been torpedoed!

Not near as fun as the 22 pistol/smoke bomb method!

 

[sheeplady]

Our gophers disappeared here when the fire ants moved in about 25-30 years ago. But I have noticed since they have put the hayfield back in shape across the road, their little mounds are returning. But still rare!

Yeah, I'd rather have the woodchucks. Fire ants creep me out.

 

[newsman]

See, I worry about safety. We currently live on a 50 by 100 foot lot, surrounded by other lots of the same size. We've got kids who run through the yards, etc. Also, while I know a pellet gun isn't a "true" gun, it is illegal to discharge a firearm here under the town ordinance. I also live next to a cop and two houses down is a lady who calls the cops on everybody. (She also sues everybody she can, but that is another story.) So... I use a pellet gun somebody is going to know.

My problem woodchuck lives under a neighbor's shed, but they are all over the neighborhood. If I smoked one out with a woodchuck "bomb" it would be replaced by another one. There's probably five on this block alone. Besides that, the neighbors aren't interested in getting rid of them, even when I offered to do the dirty work. They don't have gardens.

So, the new place I will bomb them. We'll only be in the current house another year, then I'll wave bye-bye to Mr. Woodchuck.

You make a very good point. With a lot your size a pellet rifle that could dispatch a rodent is too powerful to safely use. Not to mention just plain too loud. My pellet rifle is louder than my .22 target rifle. But they sure are handy for rodent issues.

This is a little too expensive, I bet, but there is a company that will bring in a truck and vacuum suck the little fellers out of their holes and transplant them elsewhere. Might not be in your neck of the woods. But if nothing less the video of their company at work is pretty funny.

Well...to me at least. I think the ground hogs they remove look really confused and far from happy.

 

[Bret4207]

A pellet rifle is a not a "firearm" under the definitions in the NYS Penal law. I'm retired NYSP BUT, I'd bet your town ordinance covers air rifles. Cage traps can work on woodchucks but then you have to dispose of them. Some people report good results running a hose from their car exhaust down into the hole. Never tired it, I don't know if it really works. You may want to consider calling a nuisance animal removal guy.

What are you fencing? The geese in or the dogs/coyotes out? Guineas would need about 20 foot of fence or their wings clipped. We clip the wings. I've had real good luck with electro-net fencing with my sheep. I keep them on pasture 24/7 spring, summer and fall and they don't shallenge the fence as long as there's feed to eat. I also have 2 Great Pyrenees livestock guard dogs in with the sheep 24/7/365. Went form 50 some lambs and ewes killed by coyotes 2 years back to 3 losses last year, our first with the dogs. The 3 we lost got outside the fence, they were bummer lambs that hated the other sheep, got under the fence and got eaten. We lucked out with our Pyrs, got them from an alpaca farm that was closing. You definitely want FARM RAISED dogs if you go that route. They have to have the instinct and the background or it's a waste of money.

BTW- young woodchuck tastes a lot like beef. It's not up there with Cottontail, Mallard or good venison, but it's pretty fair eating. Old woodchuck tastes a lot like really gamey, tough, nasty meat type food that would be better served to a dog. I've eaten woodchuck, muskrat, beaver, coon and lots of roadkill stuff. Lived pretty poor at one time. It's all meat and it will all keep you alive, some is just way better than others.

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Best way to get rid of groundhogs in an urban environment is to trap them in a Havahart trap and then drown them (in the trap) in a tub of water. Rubbermaid containers are ideal for this. I know this sounds bad, but it is the best option. Be careful though. In some states they are "protected" by the state. Which means you don't want to get caught doing this. The state would like you to hire a trapper that will charge you several hundreds of dollars per critter. If you do go this route, make sure you stake the trap down. I've seen them roll the trap over and over (sideways) until it opens up. Once they have been trapped, they will never go near a trap again. If you shoot one with a pellet gun, you'll only make them made. . . .

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

That should be: "If you shoot one with a pellet gun, you'll only make them mad . . . ."

 

[Renault]

Just got back from checking pig trap. Got 2 nice eating size shoats and a piglet in the trap. Pics of them in the morning. They are pitch black and will not show up. They are pure long snouted piney woods rooter type pigs! Son coming over to get Sure he will pen em up and feed em out!

 

[Renault]

Last nights catch!



To me pigs this size are manna from heaven. And there were at least 1/2 dozen others camped out around trap last night about the size of these!!! So there will be more suckling pig for the freezer!

 

[newsman]

Pork! It's what's for dinner. Or in this case breakfast, lunch and dinner.

 

[Stray Cat]

Last nights catch!

To me pigs this size are manna from heaven. And there were at least 1/2 dozen others camped out around trap last night about the size of these!!! So there will be more suckling pig for the freezer!

Way to go!
I know a number of recipes that include these - but, unfortunately they are hard to come by over here. [huh]

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Best chili I ever had was made with Elk and Wild boar. Renault, do you have to watch out for parasites and disease in the wild pigs?

 

[Renault]

No but the pigs do!!!!!

Seriously. Never had any issues with them. And I raised 3 kids on wild hogs. And one of them feeds his kids wild pork least every other week. As for parasites. Yes they have em. But of you wait a while before starting to work on them, many external parasites start looking for another host. Simply be somewhere else when they start looking. Doesn't have to be far. Usually 10-15 minutes they are gone. And you can get to work. Usually the time it takes me to go get the truck to haul them to prep area.

Heard all the horror stories about them carrying everything from hog cholera to whatever. But in 35 years I've not had any issues. Wash your hands, wash your utensils, wash your prep areas, and be sure as with any pork, it's thoroughly cooked. It's just common sense.

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

Thanks for the info. My wife and I are looking to retire in Tennessee someday (Smoky Mountains area). They recently made hog hunting illegal there except in special cases. Besides people transporting and establishing hogs to other areas on purpose, the state suggested that eating them was dangerous to your health. First one made sense but I wasn't sure the second did. I figured they were no worse than any other wild game.

 

[Renault]

In actuality, they are probably more concerned with the spread of the animal. Just their way of saying it. Here we have a saying. There are two places in Texas, one place with hogs and the other place about to have them. I really don't know any other reason for their proliferation as they have been here since the Spanish and the French first brought them here. Other than they had help from people wanting another game animal and it got out of hand.

In the old days they herded pigs as well as domestic turkeys here just like cattle to the railheads for shipment to market. From what I have read they were pretty good size herds!

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

From what I understand that is the real issue. I'm told that TN only allows hunting on private land now and that the owner has to get a "nuisance permit" to hunt them. Supposedly you can list up to five hunters (by name) that can hunt them on your permit. Transporting them is totally illegal. They are suppose to be descendants of European wild boars released in North Carolina for hunting.

 

[HudsonHawk]

In Texas, wild and feral hogs are considered an "exotic", and there are no seasonal, bag or possession limits. The only limitations are the standard hunting ones...you have to have a valid hunting license, landowner permission and you can't hunt on a public road. Some states encourage you to simply shoot them on sight.

 

[dh66]

Here in Alabama it's open season 365, no bag limit, and you can even hunt a baited field AND at night.
I recently read that in Oklahoma they passed a law allowing trapped hogs to be fitted with a radio collar so they could be released and tracked back to the herd, which a hunter or hunters could then take down all at once. I was under the impression from the article that the legislature was considering that for here as well.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

[Renault]

"and you can't hunt on a public road."

January before last I got four eating size shoats with a Ford F 150!

 

[GreatWhiteHunter]

As my brother in Virginia would say: "They died of Chrome poisoning."