Gophers and Groundhogs

Some gardeners swear by marigolds and green onions, for which gophers are purported to have a particular distaste. Experiment by planting marigolds and green onions amongst your prized edible and ornamental garden delicacies. No repellents currently available will reliably protect lawns or other plantings from gophers. Mothballs, garlic, spearmint leaves, predator urine placed in tunnels, and a perimeter of mole plant or castor bean planted around gardens have all provided mixed results. Such control strategies may be experimented with where gophers are an occasional problem, but not a long-term threat. Raptors, non-venemous bullsnakes (or "gopher snakes"), weasels, skunks, coyotes, dogs, and cats are all known to prey on gophers. Please consider using natural means rather than traps that maim or kill inhumanely.If you are considering the use of "live" traps, do NOT use glue-traps; they're death-traps and you'll never get the little guy off of them (unless you are extremely patient and have some hair conditioner and olive oil to loosen the glue with Q-tips and GENTLY pry the legs off the sticky substance). There are plenty of live-traps that capture but do not hurt the gophers. CHECK LIVE-TRAPS REGULARLY so your trapped gopher does not starve, die of thirst, or freeze. Find a place to release your gophers where they will have food and protection in a nice field away from residential areas. Do not release in areas likey to be developed or poisoned with ground toxins of any kind.

When we pull all the weeds in our gardens, gophers have no choice but to eat what we plant. That's when they become our competitors, rather than our helpers.

If you're losing a carrot or a couple of bulbs here or there, please, consider allowing your gophers to live in peace. Truth be told, they may be doing more good than harm. The ecological services of pocket gophers, which are substantial, are often not appreciated, particularly when the animals make their presence known by eating garden crops or damaging orchard or ornamental trees. For homeowners and gardeners, gophers may be only an occasional (or seasonal) nuisance in lawns and garden beds, and not a long-term problem or threat. Where these animals are not so numerous as to be causing heavy damage, they should be considered neutral.

Gophers can do minor damage to underground wiring; they simply don't know the difference between a wire and a root. They'll chew anything to discover what it is or to remove an obstacle when creating their matrix of underground burrows. Gophers may not frighten easily because they're used to noises from sprinklers, power equipment, foot-traffic, livestock, and other city or rural sounds. Avoid products that use sonic and vibration means to "frighten" gophers, as they probably won't do much good. Before you resort to killing gophers, please read: Gophers eat roots, bulbs, and other fleshy portions of plants they encounter while digging underground. This includes many "pest" plants, such as a variety of weeds and obnoxious non-native shrubs that would otherwise over-use valuable water and soil resources from native plants in your region. Some species of gohpers are protected, because they've been trapped into near extinction; so before you try to kill them as a VERY LAST resort, do a little research about gophers in your area. References: http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/gophers.htm Previous article: "I've heard they don't like Marigolds or green onions. Believe it or not one secret of avid gardeners is to plants Marigolds or green onions amongst their flowers. Gophers are just as destructive as the moles we have here in British Columbia. You basically have to nail the little suckers in the holes. If you have a long haired cat when you groom it save the fur! Then put a bit of the cat fur down the holes. Also aspirin works. Short of that you have to kill them or, the war is on just like moles and myself! LOL"

A: The big groundhog is about 24 times heavier than the little gopher. The animals look somewhat similar, however, with short neck, legs, and tail.

The groundhog (also known as a "woodchuck" and "whistle pig") is a marmot - essentially, a giant North American ground squirrel. The gopher is, like the groundhog, a burrowing member of the rodent order but its closest living relatives are kangaroo rats and pocket mice.

The pocket gopher gets its name from large fur-lined cheek pouches that border its face down to its shoulders. These weird roomy pouches function much like jeans pockets. They open to the outside and can be turned inside out for cleaning.

The groundhog hibernates and the gopher does not. By the end of October, the groundhog descends into her hidden burrow beneath a stump or a rock, curls into a relaxed ball, slows her heart from 75 to 4 beats a minute, and drops her body temperature to that of her home. She is so far "asleep" that, even if we warm her, she needs several hours to waken.

Groundhog:

• species Marmota monax from the squirrel family, Sciuridae, order Rodentia
• up to 13 pounds, 6 kg
• head and body 20 inches(50 cm) long; tail 18 inches
• found in eastern and central United States, across Canada, and into Alaska along forest edges abutting meadows, open fields, roads, and streams.
• good swimmers, can climb tall shrubs and sizable trees

Gopher:

• any of 38 species from the family Geomyidae, order Rodentia
• 0.5 pound (250 g)
• head and body 6 inches (15 cm) long; tail 3 inches (8 cm)
• range from southern Canada and the United States, south through Mexico and Central America, to northwestern Colombia. Found from coastal areas to above the timberline in high mountains.
• two to three-year lifespan

NO THERE NOT

Gopherus polyphemus is the binomial, Latin or scientific name for the gopher tortoise.

Specifically, the first part of the name is the genus. This particular genus is the only one that is native to North America. The gopher tortoise is found in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina and South Carolina.

His name is Punxsutawney Phil, named for the town the event is held.

Answer:

There is no official groundhog. Every local community that wants a local event can find, hire, or fake one, so are actual animals, others are mascots (people in costumes) and some have been dead and stuffed in years past to be trotted out on February 2 each year.

A partial list includes:

• Balzac Billy Balzac, Alberta
• Buckeye Chuck Marion, Ohio
• Chattanooga Chuck Chattanooga, Tennessee
• Chuckles Manchester, Connecticut
• Manchester, Connecticut
• Dover Doug Dover, Pennsylvania
• Dunkirk Dave Dunkirk, New York
• Fred Val d'Espoir, Quebec
• French Creek Freddie French Creek, West Virginia
• General Beauregard Lee Lilburn, Georgia
• Grady the Groundhog Chimney Rock, North Carolina
• Gus Athens, Georgia
• Holtsville Hal Holtsville, New York
• Jimmy the Groundhog
• immy the Groundhog Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
• Lawrenceville Lucy Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania
• Malverne Mel Malverne, New York
• Mortimer Garner, North Carolina
• Mount Joy Minnie Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
• Nibbles Asheville, North Carolina
• Octoraro Orphie Quarryville, Pennsylvania
• Patty Pagoda Reading, Pennsylvania
• Poor Richard York, Pennsylvania
• Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania
• Queen Charlotte Charlotte, North Carolina
• Shubenacadie Sam Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia
• Sir Thomas Hastings Hastings, Nebraska
• Sir Walter Wally Raleigh, North Carolina
• Smith Lake Jake Graysville, Alabama
• Spanish Joe Spanish, Ontario
• Staten Island Chuck Staten Island (New York City)
• Stormy Marmot Aurora, Colorado
• Susquehanna Sherman Mount Wolf, Pennsylvania
• Sutton Sammy Sutton, Ontario
• Tumbleweed Brookfield, Illinois
• Uni Myerstown, Pennsylvania
• Western Maryland Murray Cumberland, Maryland
• Wiarton Willie Wiarton, Ontario
• Woodstock Willie Woodstock, Illinois
• Woody Howell, Michigan
• Wynter the Groundhog Milwaukee, Wisconsin