# Is a woodchuck harmful?



## operagost (Jan 8, 2010)

As long as he doesn't burrow next to your foundation, leave him alone. They do like to do that. I had two that insisted on burrowing so far down that they actually got under the edge of my slab under the crawlspace, so I had to remove them.


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## operagost (Jan 8, 2010)

Oh yeah, and they carry rabies like most mammals, so keep your distance although they are not aggressive.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

As mentioned, they are not aggressive and they are fun to watch. I guess like any forest mammal they can carry rabies but I would not stay up nights worrying about that. 

The biggest danger is if they are under your porch? They are space hogs. I had one under a garage slab of a little historic house I renovated and when the slab came out I found like 82,000cf of hollowed out living space under it!

I exaggerate slightly but it was amazing.

Yours is not the one under a federal protection progam from Pennsylvania is it? There are still a lot of people angry about this past winter looking for that lying sucker!

When you get a chance, you might want to update your profile with basic geographic information.


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

No worries ..its not Phil..he fled with Wiarton Willie..last seen heading west..


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## forcedreno2012 (Nov 9, 2012)

What I want to know is.......how much wood can he chuck :jester:

Sorry couldn't resist lol.


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

This is what Greg would say if he were here in time..

A woodchuck would chuck as much as a woodchuck could if a woodchuck could chuck wood


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## forcedreno2012 (Nov 9, 2012)

:laughing:


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## DexterII (Jul 14, 2010)

We had a woodchuck that dug under our footings, 42" below grade, and back up into our conditioned crawl space one year. Unbeknownst to me, it or some other critter had managed to tear the screening under the deck loose, out of sight behind a juniper, and decided to camp out there. We generally check the crawl space about once a month, so he fortunately didn't have enough time to do any damage. And, we had already decided that the deck was coming down the next spring, so that eliminated any future problems in that regard. I've thought about that a number of times since though, and wonder how much damage he may have done if we hadn't found it as early as we did.


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## creeper (Mar 11, 2011)

Recently, a local guy decided he didn't want to go out in inclement weather to get to the mall 200 metres across the St. So, naturally, he dug a tunnel under a very busy Rd and into a janitors closet in a very big and busy mall

http://yolkregion.ca/2011/05/area-man-digs-200-metre-tunnel-to-upper-canada-mall/


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

creeper said:


> No worries ..its not Phil..he fled with Wiarton Willie..last seen heading west..


I thought they strung him up?:hang:


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

operagost said:


> Oh yeah, and they carry rabies like most mammals, so keep your distance although they are not aggressive.


Groundhogs do carry rabies (potentially). Most mammals DO NOT!


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

from the CDC

All species of mammals are susceptible to rabies virus infection, but only a few species are important as reservoirs for the disease. In the United States, distinct strains of rabies virus have been identified in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. Several species of insectivorous bats are also reservoirs for strains of the rabies virus.


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## nanuk (Aug 14, 2011)

chrisn said:


> from the CDC
> 
> All species of mammals are susceptible to rabies virus infection, but only a few species are important as reservoirs for the disease. In the United States, distinct strains of rabies virus have been identified in raccoons, skunks, foxes, and coyotes. Several species of insectivorous bats are also reservoirs for strains of the rabies virus.


Groundhogs do carry rabies (potentially). Most mammals DO NOT.

"Carry" is the keyword.
Acting as a vector and being susceptible all two different things.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I guess I might as well throw this out but if you do decide to get rid of him they cook up extremely well and are very tasty. We used to go ground hog hunting every spring they are very clean animals and only eat greens.


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## Nailbags (Feb 1, 2012)

benali said:


> I have a woodchuck (also sometimes called a groundhog) living in a burrows underneath my back porch. I know that they eat vegetation (like your garden if they can get in) -- but other than that, are they harmful?
> 
> If not, I'm inclined to just let him live there. (It's fun to watch him).
> 
> ...


Well that depends on how much wood they can chuck if they could chuck wood:jester::001_tongue:


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