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Groundhog Removal
A burrow entrance with a spoil mound beside it is the one you can see. There is another one somewhere without a mound, and it is the reason filling the obvious hole accomplishes nothing at all.
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The short version
Groundhogs dig a main entrance, which throws up the mound of soil you notice, and at least one plunge hole dug from below and therefore mound-free. Fill the main one and the animal uses the other. Exclusion has to go below grade with an outward footer, because an animal that tunnels for a living will simply go under a fence.
Entrances
At least two, one hidden
Mound
Only at the main entrance
Fence alone
Useless — they go under
Under a structure
Undermines footings
How serious is it, actually?
The animal is the same wherever it digs. The location is what decides whether this is a nuisance or a structural problem.
Low
Open ground
A burrow at the field edge or bottom of the garden. A hole and some grazing. Worth fencing the vegetable patch and otherwise leaving alone.
Worth acting
Under a shed or deck
Footings start losing the soil they bear on. Groundhog burrow systems are extensive — multiple chambers and considerable total excavation.
High
Against a foundation
Soil removal under load. By the time anything shows at the surface a lot has already moved, and closing the hole without knowing how much is guessing.
Wait
Spring, young present
Removing the adult leaves dependent young underground to die — and if the burrow is under a structure, that’s a smell inside the building for weeks with no way to reach it.
Reading the burrow
The main entrance is dug from the surface down, which is why the excavated soil ends up in a fan beside it. Somewhere within a reasonable distance — often screened by vegetation, a fence line or the edge of a structure — there will be one or more plunge holes, dug upward from inside the tunnel. No mound, smaller opening, easy to miss and easy to twist an ankle in.
Find them before you do anything else. Loosely stuff the openings you find with crumpled newspaper and check the next day: what gets pushed out is in use, what stays is not. That tells you the real shape of the burrow system rather than the part you noticed first.
Why the location decides how serious it is
A burrow in open ground at the bottom of the garden is a hole and a vegetable-patch problem. A burrow under a shed, deck footing, patio slab, retaining wall or house foundation is a structural one, because the tunnel system removes soil that something is bearing on. Groundhog burrows are extensive — multiple chambers, considerable total excavation.
That distinction should drive urgency more than the animal’s behaviour does.
Exclusion that actually holds
Fencing works only if it accounts for both directions. They climb better than people expect and dig better than anything else in a suburban garden.
The construction that holds: welded wire or hardware cloth, buried to a reasonable depth, then bent outward at the bottom into an L away from the protected area so an animal digging at the base meets wire underneath. Leave the top foot or so unattached to posts and angled outward, so a climbing animal bends it back and drops off.
For a deck or shed, the same principle around the perimeter: trench, wire, L-footer outward, backfill. This is the work that ends it. Trapping without it means the next groundhog moves into a ready-made burrow, and there always is a next one — a good burrow is valuable real estate.
Before anyone traps anything
Check the season and check the law. Relocating a trapped animal is illegal in most states and in many it is illegal to release one anywhere other than the property where it was caught, which makes a trapped animal a problem you now own. And in spring there may be young in the burrow: removing the adult then leaves dependent young to die underground, which is both inhumane and a smell inside a structure that lasts for weeks.
Installing it in the right order
The sequence below is what separates a fence that holds from one that gets dug under in a fortnight.
Find every entrance
The main one has a spoil mound. There’s at least one plunge hole dug from below with no mound — usually screened by vegetation or a structure edge.
Confirm which are in use
Loosely stuff each with crumpled newspaper. What gets pushed out overnight is active; what stays isn’t. That gives you the real shape of the system.
Trench the line
Down to a reasonable depth around whatever you’re protecting. This is the part people skip and the reason fences fail.
Bend the wire outward
Welded wire or hardware cloth with the bottom turned into an L pointing away, so an animal digging at the base meets wire underneath.
Leave the top loose
The top foot unattached to posts and angled outward. A climbing animal bends it back and drops off.
Backfill and check
Then walk the line after the first heavy rain, when any weak point shows.
How serious is it, actually
The point where this changes
A burrow under a foundation, retaining wall, slab or deck footing. The question stops being about the animal and becomes about how much soil has already been moved from under something bearing load. That needs looking at, and closing the hole without knowing is guessing.
Spring, with the possibility of young underground. Removing the adult leaves dependent young to die in the burrow. If that burrow is under a structure, the consequence is a smell inside the building for weeks and no way to reach it.
Trapping, in most states. Relocation is generally illegal and release is often restricted to the property of capture — so a trapped animal becomes a decision you may not be permitted to make.
Advertising disclosure: calls are routed to an independent local provider. We’re paid a referral fee for the call. You pay the provider, never us.
What proper exclusion involves
Survey
Finds every entrance
The plunge hole has no mound and is the reason filling the obvious one does nothing.
Groundwork
Trenches the wire
Below grade with an outward L-footer. A fence stopping at ground level is decorative.
Legal
Answers where it goes
Where the animal goes. Relocation is prohibited in most states.
What to ask first
- Have you found all the entrances, and how many are there?
- Is exclusion included, or removal only?
- How deep does the wire go, and is there an outward footer?
- What’s the plan if there are young in the burrow?
- What happens legally to the animal — released where?
The last one matters and most people never ask it. “Humane removal” means different things in different states, and a straight answer tells you a lot about who you’re dealing with.
Frequently asked
Why does filling a groundhog hole not work?
There’s always a second entrance. The main one throws up a spoil mound; the plunge hole is dug from below and has none, which is why it gets missed.
Are groundhog burrows dangerous to a foundation?
Under a shed, deck footing, slab or foundation, yes — the tunnel system removes soil that something is bearing on. In open ground it’s a hole and some grazing.
Can I relocate a groundhog I trap?
In most states, no. Relocation is prohibited and release is often restricted to the property of capture, which makes a trapped animal a decision you may not be allowed to make.
How do I keep groundhogs out of a garden?
Welded wire buried to depth, bent outward at the bottom into an L, with the top foot left unattached and angled out so a climbing animal bends it back and drops off.
Under a structure, or more than one hole?
Fencing a vegetable patch properly, with wire below grade and an outward footer, is a weekend and it works. A burrow under a foundation or deck footing is a different question — and in spring, so is the possibility of young underground.
Call (877) 360-4657