Baby groundhogs, should I care?

June 17, 2023 4:34 PM

Just saw that there is a family of groundhogs under my shed. Do I need to care about this? I have a few plants out there like blackberries and mint, but they're just kinda growing wild. I don't really consider it a "garden". Compost pile not too far from shed. Kids play in the back yard. No dog. I'm inclined to just let them be, but maybe I'm not thinking of something?
posted by pyro979 to Home & Garden (6 answers total)

If the shed is already in need of repair around the foundation, and they move in and breed there for years, they will accelerate the decomposition of the shed, a little bit.

Other than that, have fun and enjoy, this is their land too!
posted by SaltySalticid at 4:39 PM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

They can potentially carry rabies and the kids may be tempted to touch them. Make sure they don’t. Otherwise, enjoy their presence!
posted by music for skeletons at 4:56 PM on June 17, 2023 [1 favorite]

Several years and one house ago, I had an extensive vegetable garden AND a family of groundhogs living under my shed. I ended up getting a motion-activated sprinkler to protect my garden which was on the opposite corner of the yard from the shed, and I got hours of entertainment from that, and I like to think they got lots of enrichment from trying to outsmart the sprinkler. It was fun for a couple of years and then I moved.
posted by jenjenc at 5:32 PM on June 17, 2023 [9 favorites]

Groundhogs can undermine your house. Their tunnels can be surprisingly large, so you might not know that they are doing damage. Probably best to get rid of them in a humane manner.
posted by H21 at 6:44 PM on June 17, 2023

Groundhogs can be aggressive. Growing up I had a friend who had to get rid of them because they kept chasing her kids in the yard. They were able to be relocated in humane traps.
posted by tiny frying pan at 5:32 AM on June 18, 2023 [1 favorite]

I moved into my house in 2003 and had a groundhog already in residence under my shed. I never really had a garden, so there were no worries there. He would nip off the tops of new sunflowers that grew under my bird feeders. I just let him be.

He (or a descendant, not sure how long they live) resided there for over ten years. I preferred him to the skunks who tried to move in after. (and yes, I tried running chicken wire around the bottom of the shed so there'd be no way in. I resorted to buying coyote urine online and I spray that around the shed from time to time)
posted by annieb at 2:40 PM on June 18, 2023