i'v been hunting these critters for 12+years and have learned a lot. i have one living in my front yard shrubbery and he/she is my teacher. it comes out to eat in the afternoon and does so every other day. if it sees me in the window, i'll freeze and after some staring, it resumes eating. i'v watched a field with 20+ holes and one will appear one day and not another, while others come out of the other holes with the same pattern. do they sleep and ? in their dens for 24+hours? some are regulars but seem to nibble and run, esp the barn pigs. some just stare at me and others vanish instantly. some are climbers and some take naps on rocks/logs routinely. climbing seems to be inherited...shot 4 off the same fence post during a season. finally, their diet. always felt they loved alfalfa, clover, fruit,etc. but watched my shrubbery pig eating GOAT TURDS! it did cleanse it's palate with clover later. yuk.
grounhog behavior!
- Thread starter lpreddick
- Start date
mshelton
I'm gonna bait my fields with goat turds now.
Ip-
Howdy !
It's not un-common for " soybeanus digestus " to have more than one exit from a den. Just as it is not un-common for them to have
more than one den, that they use.
They can enter the den at one location, and exit at another, so.... you may not always know that individual groundhogs have indeed come out; unles you have line-of-sight on all potential exits from a certain den.
Groundhogs will run when startled or alarmed by movement they see, but there' also no assurance that they won't bolt... if you remain still.
They do know humans on sight.
With regards,
357Mag
Howdy !
It's not un-common for " soybeanus digestus " to have more than one exit from a den. Just as it is not un-common for them to have
more than one den, that they use.
They can enter the den at one location, and exit at another, so.... you may not always know that individual groundhogs have indeed come out; unles you have line-of-sight on all potential exits from a certain den.
Groundhogs will run when startled or alarmed by movement they see, but there' also no assurance that they won't bolt... if you remain still.
They do know humans on sight.
With regards,
357Mag
Hey don't knock it until you've tried it! ;Dlpreddick said:
I heard that hibernating animals eat their own Feces while down there, kind of a Midnight snack!
From my deck I can scan a number of holes over a couple of acres. I don't disturb the chucks at all except when I mow. They don't like that much. I never see more than two in residence at a time and usually only one. I do see different chucks at different times of the year, and there are times when I don't see any for long periods. They seem to do most of their eating in the first half of the season, then they only come out in short forays for the rest of the season. Early in the year they love to eat the bark off fruit trees, and they will climb the bigger trees and nibble on the high branches. They can flat out ruin a mature apple or pear tree. I put wire around to keep them off. They don't do much interesting, but the other day I did see one posturing like a cat for another one. It kept sitting up and its tail got real fat.
LOL,
I remember a local building inspector telling me he used mini Toosie Rolls to bait the holes with . Maybe he was on to something
I remember a local building inspector telling me he used mini Toosie Rolls to bait the holes with . Maybe he was on to something
A couple of my farmer friends and I believe groundhogs move two or three times per year. Why, we don't know.
I have killed one at a particular hole. Then the hole will be unoccupied for a month or so. Then a new resident moves in.
I also believe they eat 3 to 5 times per day except when the weather is too 'something or other'. That feeding would be first thing in the morning, 15 minutes to two hours before sunset, and one to three times during the day.
I have killed one at a particular hole. Then the hole will be unoccupied for a month or so. Then a new resident moves in.
I also believe they eat 3 to 5 times per day except when the weather is too 'something or other'. That feeding would be first thing in the morning, 15 minutes to two hours before sunset, and one to three times during the day.
My wife has goats, also has Great Pyrenees dogs that guard goats from coyotes, found one dead woodchuck in their pasture once, they thought him a threat, probably only wanted a turd to eat! LOL
thekriebles
Gold $$ Contributor
Nomad47 said:
+1 on Nomad's comments as well. As he stated, weather conditions (especially excessive heat) will impact their feeding times. Like all animals, they will adapt to their surroundings for eating and survival. I've seen groundhogs climb fruit trees as some have stated above. They would climb my parent's apple trees and mulberry tree for the fruit. I shot many of them with my bow while they were perched feeding themselves.
they are very temp sensitive in that they cannot sweat...have no ecrine sweat glands. i have watched the air temp drop slowly and watch them stick their nose just out, them back several times until the temp gets below about 78, then out they come and the killing begins in earnest! in early spring i'v seen many asleep on a log or rock pile warning themselves. shot two off the same log twenty min apart...thought i missed the first. it's common knowledge in sw virginia that they commonly come out just at the end of a rain shower...esp if the temp starts out 80+ degrees an drops into the low 80s/high 70s. i suspect they may have some sort of barometric sensing ability. when there is an approaching front, we rarely see them out, almost not worth a trip to the field. one thing i don't understand is their response to a close shot. i'v missed and they vanish and i watched my buddy shoot at one 7 TIMES, the last 5 he stood and dirt was hitting him!!! i finally put an end to this idiot by sending a 105 berger vld out of my 6-284 and at 520 yds ...DRT. strange critters for sure.
CatShooter
I have noticed that they will stay in during high pressure front, and come out during a low pressure front, and they will be out in a light drizzle or after a rain, cuz they can't drink water, so they get it from the plants they eat.
An over cast morning after a night of rain is 'chuck shootin' heaven.
An over cast morning after a night of rain is 'chuck shootin' heaven.
i 'v seen many warming themseles on cool days and saw one yesterday stretched out on what i thought was a black rock...made sense since black absorbes heat, a nice body warmer. a farm worker came by and watched me send a rude awakening to "sleepy". at the shot he said "did you see that tire roll down the hill?" tire? yes thr was one at the bottom of the hill. the pig was asleep on a pile of old black tires and his reflex kick at being shot pushed a full size tire off the pile! the 60 gr berger at 3600 fps has about 1000 ft-lbs of energy at 200 yds and my hollow pointed berger produced a very small exit..conservation of energy at it's best!
I find this to be a very interesting topic of discussion and I agree with almost all that has been written. Ground hogs are all around my house and they keep coming back to same places each year, I don't shoot them here, I'd rather watch their behavior. They do adapt to their surroundings, we had them all around the factory where I worked and at one end of the factory we have a tempering furnace and you talk about loud, the quench from the furnace will ring your ears off, but they will be right outside every evening just eating away. I strongly agree that they love to come out and forage in wet grass after a rain and agree this is where they get water and also from the wet dew on the grass in the mornings. I don't think the real hot humid days of summer stop them from coming out to forage, maybe not as much. Like you all have mentioned, I've shot them from almost any situation you can think of. I also agree that they do move around to different areas and different holes and in our WVDNR web site it says that ground hogs leave their holes in the hay fields and move into holes in the woods during hibernation, I believe this to be true.
Dave T
Dave T
How much are goat turds selling for these days. Now that the word is out I'm sure the price will go up. Happy shooting.
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