Do Woodchuck Repellents Work?

Having woodchucks on your property will cause all kinds of problems. They include damage to your plants as they eat them, damage to electrical cables if they gnaw on them, and holes that pose dangers to anyone walking by them. Many homeowners prefer to deal with the problem by repelling the woodchucks, so they move out on their own. Here are some of the common repellents, and how they work. Is it the best way to remove woodchucks from your property?

Chemical Repellents

If you go shopping for a woodchuck repellent, you’ll see that chemical repellents are often touted as an option. These usually have ammonia or mothballs as a base, and the idea is to pour them into the burrows daily until the woodchucks leave. 

You may also see that the repellent has a strong peppermint scent, something that woodchucks are also said to dislike. While they may be potent enough to drive out some woodchucks, you won’t know if you’ve got them all. Also, some woodchucks will put up with the repellent if the food sources are plentiful enough nearby.

Electronic Repellents

These days, many homeowners swear by electronic repellents. These are designed to keep woodchucks away by emitting a sound that’s out of human hearing range but within animal hearing ranges. These are used for all kinds of household pests, such as squirrels in attics. As the sound is said to be so annoying, the woodchucks will move away from the area.

The truth is that an ultrasonic device is much like a noisy neighbor. While it’s annoying to the woodchuck, you’ll see that they’ll put up with a lot if they’re happy with their home. They’ve put in the time to dig the burrows and find food, so they’re not going to leave just because of some noise.

Household Repellents

If you have the right materials in your home, you could make your own woodchuck repellent. For example, some people like to push mothballs into burrows in order to drive them out. Others like to use a home-made pepper spray, made by grinding up hot chili peppers, and mixing it with water. This can be sprayed around the garden to deter them from coming in.

There’s not enough evidence to say that these remedies work, and so you may not be successful when you try them. Plus, with the mothball method, you’ll need to be careful. Woodchucks can be aggressive, and if you’re pushing something into their burrows they could attack. However, if you have the items and want to give it a try, it certainly doesn’t hurt to do so.

Simulated Predator Repellents

The last repellent you can try is something that shows woodchucks that a predator is nearby. The idea is, if they think there’s a predator in the area, then they’ll move away from the danger. Many used simulated fox urine in order to do this.
It may work in the short term, but again, the woodchuck won’t leave just because a predator may be hanging around your yard. If they’ve gotten comfortable, they will just be cautious. 

Remember, they won’t forage for food when their most common predators hunt, so they’re already on the lookout for danger.

Do Repellents Work?

As you’ve seen, there’s an awful lot a woodchuck will put up with. They can deal with noise, smells and worse if they know they’re in a safe location. Your yard offers a great place to hide from predators, and it has an abundance of food for them to eat. Why would they leave, just because you’ve sprayed or poured arepellent down their burrows?

Because of this, repellents aren’t as effective as you would want them to be. Instead, you’ll need to find other ways of getting them off your property.

How to Remove Woodchucks

If you can’t repel the woodchucks, what can you do? There are a couple of options that will help.

Firstly, remove as many food sources as you can. This is admittedly difficult, as there’s so much that woodchucks like to eat. Pick up fruit that’s fallen to the ground, and remove as many plants as you can. Remember they’ll happily eat out of trash too, so buy a garbage can with a tight-fitting lid.

If you want to get rid of woodchucks, trapping them is the best bet. You’ll need to check whether you need to use non-lethal traps in your area, and be careful when using them as trapped woodchucks will get aggressive. You can then move them somewhere more suitable and release them.

As you can see, repellents will work, but only to a certain extent. It’s better to remove anything that makes your yard habitable to woodchucks and trap them in order to remove them. If you’re not sure how to deal with them, it’s always better to call a wildlife control professional.

With them, it’s always better to call a pest control professional.

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