My neighbor has a groundhog living under their porch. They don’t seem to mind and neither did I, until I found one of my tomato plants had been eaten. I’m 99% sure it was him because I’ve seen him hanging out in my driveway.

Most of my garden is fenced in, so that should help, but I have a couple tomato plants in large planters that I’m now worried about.

I sprinkled some peppermint oil around the planters because I read that might help. I have a cat, and read used kitty litter may scare it away… but that seems a little gross tbh.

Anyone have any hog-repelling secrets?

  • v13@kbin.social
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    1 year ago

    I’ve sprinkled hot peppers, (dried, in ground or flake form) on and around plants to deter critters.

    • Bohammer@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Hi again v13, we’re the pest fighting pepper homies today lol

      This does work, however groundhogs (and many ground or below ground rodents) navigate and “view” the world largely with their sense of smell, so powdered pepper can basically blind them or cause a lot of torment.
      You can do a similar thing with shorter term consequences by using oil-based scents instead of powder. Garlic, crushed lavender, home fragrances such as the liquid from glade plug-ins, e-cigarette juice, a perfume or cologne you want to get rid of, etc. All of these will have a similar effect to the cayenne but without permanent damage.

      Or if you really want to go with the pepper solution I’d suggest emulsifying it with a blender and cooking oil so that the particles are at least mostly trapped in the oil.