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Unwelcome Visitor

Just caught this one (2nd of the year) in the garden. Took a while for this guy as he was pretty sly. Bait was broccoli leaves with trap nearly on top of one of his burrows into the fenced garden.

This has been a good year for unwelcome guests. A mamma opossum decided to "drop her load" in my basement early this spring (door was left open one night). Found one small one (about 3") and thought it was a fluke. A few days later my housecat had a nasty run-in with something--figured another cat. He nearly died from the ensuing infection. He scratched me and passed on the bug (probably some staph infection).

Started noticing food disappearing rapidly and litter box being filled quickly as well. FINALLY heard something one night. Trapped four more rapidly growing adolescents out of the house! Nothing quite like nocturnal, litter-trained opossums for house guests! With an average litter of around 7 and 13 rather common I'm guessing the cat killed a number of them, the rest ate their littermates and then found the cat food.

Comments

  • John Felciano
    John Felciano Member Posts: 411
    So??

    What did you do with him after you trapped him?Take him for a ride?

    Better be carefull Mike,Radies is a serious threat,at least around here!


  • An in-law takes the groundhogs to hunting camp and BBQs them. Haven't tried any yet, but maybe one of these times...
  • Brent_2
    Brent_2 Member Posts: 81


    When we moved into our house, I caught 13 the first year, 13 the second year. Last year I caught 8 and stopped setting the trap around Aug. This year I only bothered to set the trap during July and August and caught about 6. The groundhogs made a network of holes and tunnels in the woods and fencerow around my house. When one moves out another moves in. And for bait I use ... nothing. They just are curious and wander in. If I do get one I often get another 1 or 2 within a few days. I think the others investigate the scent the previous one left.
    And no I do not pratice catch and release.

    brent
  • Brian (Tankless)
    Brian (Tankless) Member Posts: 340
    \"Eat more Possum\"

    is a popular T shirt in these parts, and they ain't kidd'n.

    Even though I'm from England (the home of boring food) I've tried everything BUT possum. Here in Indian Village, Allen/Calcasieu Parish, Louisiana, that thing would have been dinner & a hat.

    Nutria (BIG water rat) tastes pretty good BBQ'd.

    Later Y'all, Swampster.

  • Brad White_2
    Brad White_2 Member Posts: 188
    The other white meat

    :^Q>
  • Dave_38
    Dave_38 Member Posts: 8
    Possum???

    Don't know what you got there, but it ain't no 'possum!!
  • Um

    That's a woodchuck, or a groundhog, or a whistlepig, enemy of all horses because of the holes they make.

    Had one under the shed as a kid that came out to eat when we pounded on the ground by the hole. He was there three summers.

    Thanks, Mike. My wife likes your close up picture.

    Noel
  • Christian Egli
    Christian Egli Member Posts: 277


    Good job getting rid of that nasty thing. Those bugs do not belong anywhere near a building with foundations.

    We make them feel unwelcome too.

    It is surprising how slow groundhogs run. It has been rather easy to catch them.

    They taste OK but I don't like them anyway.
  • Irene_2
    Irene_2 Member Posts: 24
    groundhog

    Yes, that is not a possum but a ground hog. Possums are much meaner and have long snouts with very sharp teeth. But both are dead end hosts. Which means they cannot pass rabies along. Thank heavens
    Irene
  • John R. Hall
    John R. Hall Member Posts: 2,246
    Speaking of unwelcome visitors...

    Our dog got skunked a few weeks ago -- P.U.! Took a few shampoos of the wife's "special sauce" to rid him of the smell, which lingered in the house for a few days. I know a guy in the neighborhood who is trying to find a way to get rid of a nest of them under his deck. My guess is to call a specialist for the job. Big Orange advertising any of them yet?
  • Brad White_4
    Brad White_4 Member Posts: 2
    Dead-end Host?

    That is the first time I ever heard that, Irene.
    I was always told that any mammal that has rabies can inflict it to the next host.

    Better safe than sorry is my take. Hope you are right!
  • Brad White_4
    Brad White_4 Member Posts: 2
    Last Halloween night

    our two Bernese Mountain Dogs went after pepe le pew. Pepe won. We used a paste of peroxide and baking soda. I guess it worked, but we had nothing to compare it too.
    Skunk up close smells NOTHING like the road pizza variety. What is the secret sauce? I know, if you told me...

    To repell skunks I heard dried blood or fox or coyote urine available at garden centers works well. Hate to be the ornery guy to get the dingoes to pee in a little cup :^)>
  • Irene_2
    Irene_2 Member Posts: 24
    groundhog day

    4 years of vet school...
  • Marty_3
    Marty_3 Member Posts: 14
    Ground dog

    There's no quicker and cleaner way I know of dealing with a groundhog than popping him with a 22 Mag. They never stray too far from their own hole. Once you're sure they're expired, just pick them up by the hind feet and slide them right down their hole- no digging required. Messless and hassle-free.
  • Brad White_2
    Brad White_2 Member Posts: 188
    I bow before you

    Irene. I learn new things every day and in the most unlikely places!

    Thanks!
  • Brad White_2
    Brad White_2 Member Posts: 188
    .22 Mag

    will go through a Kevlar vest. Good to know in case the groundhogs become sophisticated.
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    Or...

    ...you could join the folks out in the Midwest who do ultra-long-distance shooting using Ground-hogs as unwitting targets. The WSJ article I read on the subject was rather graphic... not that you couldn't be when trying to describe what happens when a .50 cal bullet finds its target. But the farmers like it, because their livestock can break their feet stumbling into ground-hog burrows.

    Anyway, firing .50 cal bullets at a range of up to 1.5 miles from the ground-hog is not my idea of fun. But having competed in riflery, I can appreciate the accuracy even if the hunters use tripods to steady their guns. You gotta be good reading the mirages for wind-speed and direction at those ranges to hit anything...
  • Bryan_16
    Bryan_16 Member Posts: 262
    .50 caliber?

    at 1.5 miles! Thats a Howitzer.
  • Brad White_2
    Brad White_2 Member Posts: 188
    105 mm howitzer

    range is 7.5 miles with no wind. Makes bigger holes than a gound hog would too!


  • I'm not too hip on firing a weapon in town--especially considering there's a University complex behind the garden. Behind that is a big, undevelopable draw leading to the Mississippi.

    Besides the normal critters like deer, opossum, groundhog and raccoon have seen fox, coyote, a badger, banded armadillo (yes, they've made it this far north) and once (daybreak so can't be sure) a wolf. Awfully big and extremely grey with a strange, effortless lumbering gait... Bobcats have always been around (rarely seen) and have heard (in newspaper) that pumas are in some of the deep woods.
  • BillW@honeywell
    BillW@honeywell Member Posts: 1,099
    Tomato juice...

    will work on skunk spray. Way back when, my highschool buddy had a dog called a Kuvaz, (think white St. Bernard) who managed absorb both barrels from a skunk. A very messy cleanup ensued, scrubbing a 120lb squirming,furry,stinky dog with several cans of tomato juice, which stained her fur, and for weeks after, she was a pink dog. What a sight!
  • John R. Hall
    John R. Hall Member Posts: 2,246
    Actually

    Peroxide and baking soda worked very well.
  • Brad White_2
    Brad White_2 Member Posts: 188
    Believe it or not

    Massengil **** is purported to be as effective as tomato juice. One can imagine the looks one would get going to Costco to buy a case...
  • Tony_8
    Tony_8 Member Posts: 608
    Tried em all

    When I was a kid/teen and was trapping. The ONLY thing that works 100% w/o fail is peroxide, baking soda, dish soap and water. It is the result of a breakdown of the chemicals in the spray and what it takes to neutralize them.
  • Dead-end Host

    Had to look that up.

    The words tended me make me think, "can get it but can't transmit it." Wrong I believe. Please correct me Irene.

    From a veterinary site regarding encephalomyelitis in horses...

    "is not a natural host for this virus so it is called a 'dead end' host, meaning it does not serve as a source of infection for other"

    Sounds as if "dead-end host" means that the pathogen doesn't like to live in that organism to begin with, so (in most cases) the pathogen dies before the "host" can transmit it to others.

    Quite rare in groundhogs. Opossums seem nearly immune. Correct?

    p.s. If you saw the original post with "West Nile" instead of "encephalomyelitis" please ignore the GLARING error!!! It was from a site on West Nile... After posting, I realized the stupid error!
  • Irene_2
    Irene_2 Member Posts: 24
    dead end host

    Yes, a possum, groundhog, even rats can get bitten by an animal carrying the rabies virus but will not exhibit any symptoms or be able to pass it on. Hence the term "Dead End Host". Racoons, skunks and even squirrels can pass it on. I had to go through the rabies series after coming in contact with a rabid cow...
    Irene

  • Dof3
    Dof3 Member Posts: 120
    Skunk smell

    You can stop a skunk from smelling by holding it's nose. I use the new .17HMR on groundhog size critters, it is fast and accurate. I was watching guys shoot prairie dogs at 500 yards with a .204 Ruger/ Savage setup. Nothing to it.
  • Bryan_16
    Bryan_16 Member Posts: 262
    500 yards

    no problem, but 1.5 miles! What optics would you use to even see that far?
  • Constantin
    Constantin Member Posts: 3,796
    The optics were huge...

    ... as was the gun to shoot that far and actually hit something that small. Don't recall the name and brand, probably not even in there considering that the WSJ isn't exactly known as a hunter magazine... Nonetheless, it has to be darn difficult to figure out how much even the slightest wind movements are going to change the trajectory of the bullet.

    By comparison, todays laser technology makes finding the range rather easy (no more shifting the optics around).

    What I found surprising is how some pics showed the guns mounted in the backs of pickup trucks. Considering the distance, I would have gone for a prone position with a bi- or tri-pod mounted in the ground, not a truck. Then again, I never have had to field-assemble a .50 cal, so I imagine the hassle of all that is probably the reason to mount the guns to trucks.

    In closing, while I find the skill required to hit anything at these distances to be impressive, regardless of how much technology is being used to help the sniper, I personally prefer targets that are not alive. The whole "you kill it, you eat it mentality" that can't really apply when a .50 cal turns a ground-hog into red dust.
  • Dof3
    Dof3 Member Posts: 120
    .50

    LAR Grizzly is a single shot .50. It has a barrel that retracts into it self to absorb the kick. Israli Arms makes a .50 handgun called a Desert Eagle and it has one hell of a punch but not 1.5 miles. I read a book about Carlos Hathcock,USMC sniper in Nam, he shot a VC soldier over a mile away. He got hit before he heard the shot. The scope he was using was a pretty basic sniper scope. The .204 Ruger I spoke of is[the bullet] about 1/4 the weight of a .50, so 500 yards is pretty good shooting with a little more than a .22
  • Tony_8
    Tony_8 Member Posts: 608
    The new record

    Just was published. 16-1/2 inch group at over 2300 yards. 408 caliber. Prone position with computer aided windage and elevation calculations. Wind was 10-15 MPH !

This discussion has been closed.