Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks and whistling pigs to some, are actually members of the squirrel family.  Like many species of squirrels, groundhogs are commonly found in most of the central and eastern part of the United States, including northern Virginia.

Groundhogs… and their penchant for gardens

With the abundance of groundhogs located throughout North America, you probably assume that they don’t get themselves into situations where they might disrupt a household. Despite their supposedly ‘passive’ nature, groundhogs can actually become pests in some contexts.

If you have a garden with many brushy plants, including bushes and young trees, a groundhog may ‘invite’ themselves into your garden and help themselves to those brush. Even if you only have a few flowering and fruit-bearing plants in your garden, they will come—especially if they already live there.

Being that the average groundhog has great eyesight and sensitive hearing, they will see that you have a great garden or backyard, and will help themselves to your garden if you don’t take the right precautions to prevent them.

5 Facts about groundhogs every homeowner should know

There are facts that homeowners should know about groundhogs to help control the presence of groundhogs around their home.

Fact #1:  Groundhogs enjoy eating various types of vegetation like grasses, garden vegetables and leaves as a part of their diet. They can eat about 1/3 of their weight in vegetation per day. To give you an idea, groundhogs typically weigh about 8 pounds on average, meaning that they can consume about 3 pounds of food each day.

Fact #2:  Groundhogs are built strong. These woodchucks typically have heavy-set bodies with short and strong legs.  The curved claws on their paws also makes burrowing easier for them.  Groundhogs tend get heavier during the autumn, since they always prepare for their winter hibernation around that time.

Fact #3:  Speaking of hibernation, groundhogs usually don’t emerge until the mating season begins around early March into late April. They usually drop their body temperature to 40°F, slowing its heartbeat to 80 beats per minute and its breathing to 4 breaths a minute.

Fact #4:  Groundhogs are known to, on occasion, build a summer burrow that’s different from the burrow they use to hibernate and eventually reproduce.  In most cases, they situate these burrows in the middle of, or around, a grassy area.

Fact #5:  You can actually deter groundhogs from settling around your backyard and/or garden by depriving them of the tall grasses or brush piles they like hiding in when they visit your place.  If they don’t have a place to hide, groundhogs will not usually stay in gardens or backyards.