Marmot Infestation

[RockWrangler]

A brief update on my marmot saga: Since my post on July 21, I have trapped an additional dozen of the pests, 7 from the same barn door. That makes 32 since this May, and a grand total of 187 since June 2020, with 59 from the barn door. I can see where they come up through the floor of the barn stall, but have not found an outside entrance. There are many dens in the rocky layers in my back pasture, so they must be traveling some underground highway into the barn.

The good news is that I was averaging 75-80 a year the first two years I was here and only 32 so far this year. I haven’t trapped a single marmot in the past 10 days; in fact, I have seen only one. They mostly hibernate sometime around October, so I suspect I have seen the worst of it for the year. I am hoping it is like MossRoad said, and I will eventually get control of the population. Of course, if I ever stop trapping, the neighboring marmots will soon take over the empty space. But for now, it does look like there is hope. I may even try gardening again next year!

 

[Rockbadchild]

wow you aren't kidding it was a real infestation!!!

 

[RockWrangler]

wow you aren't kidding it was a real infestation!!!

Something I haven't mentioned before is that all 187 marmots were trapped in an area not over an acre in size, just my barnyard, garden and house yard. An infestation indeed! I haven't even started on the back or side pastures, maybe another 3 acres.

 

[the old grind]

I found some conibear 160s with single vs double springs, as good for muskrats and groundhogs. A bit easier to set and as always just laid over/across any marmot hole. Stake 'em down (the chain) so nothing takes the trap too if/when when stealing your catch. (trapping SOP)

NO bait, just lay a few strands of grass or a twig on it to disguise the trigger wires. They'll try to brush them aside and ___. I've caught 'em coming and going according to time of day I set but never seen one make it to the end of the chain. (pics on request)

btw, In twenty one years here I've learned that if you trap at all you may do so from then on. There is closure with a body count vs a wiring harness muncher dying of poison in a hidden corner of the barn, etc. You can get ahead of things like the OP has, and running your line can be more inspecting than digging/burying. Fur trapping can be tough. Nuisance trapping never was. Sorry to carry on, but IMO trapping is too easy to call it a chore.

 

[Rockbadchild]

Something I haven't mentioned before is that all 187 marmots were trapped in an area not over an acre in size, just my barnyard, garden and house yard. An infestation indeed! I haven't even started on the back or side pastures, maybe another 3 acres.

no natural predator ? eagles, wolfs or fox

 

[kenmbz]

Fox don't seem to bother the groundhogs here. They go after rabbits, squirrels and smaller stuff though.

 

[MossRoad]

Something I haven't mentioned before is that all 187 marmots were trapped in an area not over an acre in size, just my barnyard, garden and house yard. An infestation indeed! I haven't even started on the back or side pastures, maybe another 3 acres.

That’s nuts!

I’ve been getting the same little groundhog all week. I trapped it from under our porch, under our deck, and two days ago under the other side of the porch. I think it’s a female, but haven’t asked it yet.

So I hosed out the trap, as it tends to eat all the apples in the trap after the door closes, then poops all over the trap. After I hosed the trap out, I went to put it on the shed, and a baby rabbit is sitting there in the shed looking at me, then runs under some equipment. I think it’s been eating my wife’s rose bushes.

 

[MossRoad]

Fox don't seem to bother the groundhogs here. They go after rabbits, squirrels and smaller stuff though.

Same here. I’ve never seen one eating a dead groundhog, but plenty of rabbits, squirrels, mice/voles and snakes.

 

[lman]

Something I haven't mentioned before is that all 187 marmots were trapped in an area not over an acre in size, just my barnyard, garden and house yard. An infestation indeed! I haven't even started on the back or side pastures, maybe another 3 acres.

My German Shepherd would love your place. He's bored around here, already killed all the groundhogs.

 

[RockWrangler]

I found some conibear 160s with single vs double springs, as good for muskrats and groundhogs. A bit easier to set and as always just laid over/across any marmot hole. Stake 'em down (the chain) so nothing takes the trap too if/when when stealing your catch. (trapping SOP)

NO bait, just lay a few strands of grass or a twig on it to disguise the trigger wires. They'll try to brush them aside and ___. I've caught 'em coming and going according to time of day I set but never seen one make it to the end of the chain. (pics on request)

btw, In twenty one years here I've learned that if you trap at all you may do so from then on. There is closure with a body count vs a wiring harness muncher dying of poison in a hidden corner of the barn, etc. You can get ahead of things like the OP has, and running your line can be more inspecting than digging/burying. Fur trapping can be tough. Nuisance trapping never was. Sorry to carry on, but IMO trapping is too easy to call it a chore.

I would love to set several conibear traps over known den holes in my back pasture, but body-gripping traps are illegal in WA State. That is the result of the larger population in the Puget Sound metroplex, mostly urban and suburban, voting to ban body-gripping traps. According to 2021 estimates (Rural health for Washington Overview - Rural Health Information Hub), WA State is now 10% rural (vs. 19% in 2017), which means those of us who live in the country are rarely considered when new legislation is introduced in the State House. No doubt it is the same story for most of the country. Not complaining, just looking reality in the face.

 

[the old grind]

I would love to set several conibear traps over known den holes in my back pasture, but body-gripping traps are illegal in WA State.

I bet we went over that a few pages back and I'd forgotten. (Doh!) ... or you would have used 'em by now.

Snares? Here in MI we're required to include not just deer stops but cattle stops to prevent non-target foot entanglement. Coyotes si, foxes no for that requirement. (size) But that's on public land and when in season too.

So if seasonal limitations vary for predation on one's property as ours do there may be allowances. I can traps 'coons in the barn or muskrats on the banks any time of year. Groundhogs, skunks, possum, etc aren't considered game or 'fur bearers' so I'd be surprised if you were denied on-site control by method of choice, say if not by poison & hazardous.

 

[34Willys]

Hey Rocky,
Check your laws. I had my trappers license in CA and body grip traps were legal for nuisance hire and personal pest control. They were not legal for fur taking. I had a few dozen conibear 110s that I would clear out ground squirrels from horse and cattle pen properties.

Patrick

 

[RockWrangler]

Hey Rocky,
Check your laws. I had my trappers license in CA and body grip traps were legal for nuisance hire and personal pest control. They were not legal for fur taking. I had a few dozen conibear 110s that I would clear out ground squirrels from horse and cattle pen properties.

Patrick

From the WA State Dept of Fish & Wildlife website:

It is unlawful to trap for wild animals:

These include, but are not limited to, padded foot-hold traps, unpadded foot-hold traps, all snares, and conibear-type traps. Using game birds, game fish, or game animals for bait, except nonedible parts of game birds, game fish, or game animals may be used as bait.
Furbearer trapping seasons and rules - WDFW - WA.gov

------------------------
Of course, there are exclusions and permits and regulations and laws and inspections to be followed. If you choose to request permission to trap the animals that are chewing your electrical or hydraulic lines, undermining your garage or barn, I am sure there will be a reasonable and understanding State employee willing to help.

A person is permitted to trap problem animals in non-kill traps, then either euthanize or re-locate them.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Too bad you don't live on the coast. They would make great crab bait. Two pots would run you into a marmot shortage in a month.

 

[RockWrangler]

Many of you have talked about troubles with pocket gophers. The first two years on this property I put my efforts to control gophers on the back burner while I focused on marmots. Since the marmots got a late start this year compared to the previous two years, I made a serious attempt to at least decrease the numbers of gophers in my barnyard, garden area and berry patch. I haven’t started on my yard or back pasture, an area maybe 2-plus acres. The pasture is riddled with gopher mounds, but since I don’t have animals yet, I just mow it and ignore the clouds of dust as I hit a mound.

I made a probe from a long steel rod so I wouldn’t have to bend over, and walked the perimeter of the area, around an acre in size, pushing the rod into the ground about every foot. Any spot that seemed to push in easily after the initial surface resistance got a dose of rodent poison from a Yard Butler applicator (Gopher Bait Applicator). I figured it made more sense to waste a little poison by over-application, than to miss a tunnel. After covering the perimeter of the area, I did the same thing around the garden (about 50 X 80 feet), as well as every path or row. Any mound left over from last year got a dose of poison. If it looked or felt suspicious, it got a dose.

That happened in early June, and I have not seen evidence of a single gopher anywhere in the mentioned area, most importantly in the garden. We significantly reduced planting the garden this year because of last year’s predation, but I am thinking we may be able to plant a more normal garden next year. If I can keep some level of control over the marmots and the gophers, we may actually get some green beans and sweet corn next year.

I haven’t had a marmot in a trap for three weeks, and although I can’t stack up the gopher corpses, it looks like I may have control in that one acre spot. I used a bit of the same poison in my barn: I now find mouse bodies here and there in and around the barn. Mice already chewed up the wiring and upholstery in a 1957 MGA stored in the barn, but maybe I can prevent further damage. We don’t have cats or dogs, so I’m not concerned about downstream poisoning. I know I will have to keep the pressure on, but right now I am feeling optimistic.

 

[the old grind]

Honda sells a pepper-embedded tape for wrapping wiring/harnesses. (not cheap) Some plastics (wire insul, etc) are made with soybean oil and many critters will chew it like food. (cats, etc) Rodents will gnaw anyway to keep their teeth from growing overlapped.

I've said before, I have my best luck on small vermin in the barn or on floorboards of parked vehicles with Tomcat poly snap traps, rat-size for chippies & reds and mouse-size alongside so they don't rob bait from the larger ones. IME sunflower seeds are the best bait, no staleness, mold, or ants and few if any non-target catches. No other bait needed, they all scrounge and will find your set, esp mice which will follow scent paths left by their dead forbears.

Skip using the bait cup. Toss seeds to the back so they crawl in, put their body weight on the pan, and get well inside. Tie off the big traps to avoid crawl-offs. (holes provided)

The gopher bait applicator is as good as it gets and your kill stays underground. One of the very few issues where I'd be ok with poison. (glad I don't have gophers)

 

[RockWrangler]

Honda sells a pepper-embedded tape for wrapping wiring/harnesses. (not cheap) Some plastics (wire insul, etc) are made with soybean oil and many critters will chew it like food. (cats, etc) Rodents will gnaw anyway to keep their teeth from growing overlapped.

I've said before, I have my best luck on small vermin in the barn or on floorboards of parked vehicles with Tomcat poly snap traps, rat-size for chippies & reds and mouse-size alongside so they don't rob bait from the larger ones. IME sunflower seeds are the best bait, no staleness, mold, or ants and few if any non-target catches. No other bait needed, they all scrounge and will find your set, esp mice which will follow scent paths left by their dead forbears.

Skip using the bait cup. Toss seeds to the back so they crawl in, put their body weight on the pan, and get well inside. Tie off the big traps to avoid crawl-offs. (holes provided)

The gopher bait applicator is as good as it gets and your kill stays underground. One of the very few issues where I'd be ok with poison. (glad I don't have gophers)

Pepper embedded tape! I must live in a cave--I never heard of such a thing. It is too late for the '57 MGA (I bought it in 1963, haven't driven it since 1972. Probably time for it to go.), but a bit of prevention may be a good idea for the tractor. Here is a link about the tape: Honda's Chili-Flavored Wire Wrap Could Save Your Car From a Rodent Invasion.

Thanks.

 

[ponytug]

I think that you have been lucky not to have had to deal with it before.

Peppermint oil and tobacco (cigarettes) have their adherents, too.

I have always left the hood ajar on longer term vehicle storage to dissuade vermin from feeling safe.

I understand the value of mementos, but 1972 to 2022 does seem like awhile. Perhaps there is an MG aficionado who would enjoy the restoration? A colleague took me for a drive in his vintage MG once, and I have a vivid memory of how low to the ground it, and how low the seats were. Vivid. It felt like I shouldn't drop my hand off the seat lest it touch the ground flying by. Fun ride. No idea what the year was, but looked like a '50s era.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Just so you all know, a groundhog ate my habanero peppers, leaves, fruit and all!

 

[RockWrangler]

Just so you all know, a groundhog ate my habanero peppers, leaves, fruit and all!

Now that you mention it, either marmots or gophers (or both) ate all my pepper plants two years running--right down to the ground.