Deb, not to fear... there are plenty of strategies for discouraging
woodchucks from making homes near yours that don't involve cruelty:

If you have the room, plant a small patch of meadow - wildflowers, grasses,
sweet clover - at a distance from the museum. Given the option, woodchucks
prefer to feed and make homes at a distance from human activity.

Install some sort of flag or garden ornament - something that will blow in
the wind - near the spots where woodchucks are burrowing. The fluttering
object will worry them and they'll move on.

If possible, plant columbine, daylilies, gallardia, or lobelia near their
burrows or in areas you'd like to keep burrow-free. These flowers are
noxious to woodchucks.

Used kitty litter can do the trick if you're trying to relocate a
particular woodchuck, but do so no later than May. By this time, females
are tending to a litter and will not move their families unless absolutely
necessary. Check out this website for step-by-step instructions:

http://www.hsus.org/ace/14575

Bethany Rutledge
Director of Collections & Exhibits
Thornton W. Burgess Society
East Sandwich, MA

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