Rosendale Ramblings By Sari Botton

I hate to say it, but Shake-Away doesn’t work. Have-a-heart traps, on the other hand, do. Yesterday, we bought one for the groundhog and set it up near the burrow Brian spotted at the end of the yard. And this morning we caught him (her? it?). Then, we drove it to a remote area, about 10 miles away and set it free in a big open field, not too far from water.

I felt badly for the little guy, getting displaced from familiar surroundings. But he/she has been wreaking havoc on our garage. We think that all the digging of nests underneath is why the garage is falling down, why the foundation is in pieces.

I think we did the right thing, with a have-a-heart trap, and setting it free in what appear to be very groundhog-friendly surroundings – hog heaven, really. It’s expensive, by the way, to be so humane. The trap was $68, and the bait was $12. (And, don’t forget the $15 plus shipping and handling we paid for the Shake-Away.)