If you know where the hole is - I've had good luck with smoke bombs, sold at Home Depot and many garden centers.

You have to fill in the hole later or there will be other critters moving in.

I think IF they have already been trapped AND relocated they are shy about ever going in one again.

I'd bait the trap with whatever it's coming into the garden to eat.

As I said, the hole(s) are not on my property. They would let me, but the whole I know is inside my neighbor's 200 years old shed, very unsafe and I will not go in - still have some bills to pay ) The rest of the holes are probably behind it, in thick poison ivy, and I am highly allergic to it. But I see him and his damage almost every day in my yard.

Baiting with whatever it's coming into the garden to eat is only possible for an hour - after that the vegetation will wilt and will be useless(

I've had success baiting groundhogs into a have-a-heart with apple wedges smeared with peanut butter. I think at the time it was freshly ground peanut butter from the orchard, but I would think any natural peanut butter should work.

I wouldn't put it directly in his normal path, that might spook him. But, somewhere near where he accesses the garden should work. Problem is that if there is anything else around to eat that he doesn't have to work for, that's where he's going.

Whenever we try to bait a trap, we use peanut butter. It works for mice, gophers, squirrels...

To get some peanut butter will be my tomorrow's task)

I've found cantaloupe to be effective. Put a few chunks outside the trap to create a trail into the trap where a nice wedge is waiting.

Leave the trap alone where you're going to bait it. After he gets used to it in a few days or a week, then bait it. 0

I agree with suggestions by Nitsua and exmar. Be patient; try melon as bait and make a trail into the trap. I also add a little vanilla extract which they seem to like. It took weeks but we caught the hogs in our garden.

Dried apricots work well as bait; they don't spoil quickly, and their fragrance attract rodents like a magnet. I've caught 3 ground hogs in a have-a-heart trap using dried apricots, usually within a day or two. Apricots are my bait of choice for mouse traps as well, caught about 50 voles in the gardens last year.

Most rodents like peanut butter no doubt too many. The point being that if/when you put peanut butter in a havahart and catch something other than your target (think skunk here) then you have to deal with whatever is in there.

To me possum is the worst cuz they won't leave. A skunk, coon, or squirrel even a cat will just scoot right out.

IF an apricot doesn't work I would have to say again that someone carried him to you and he may not go back in a trap anytime soon,

I have been lucky with melon rind.

Thank you, guys. I think he is @#$%&*g smart guy. He made it under the fence of my raised bed with carrots and had a hard time to get out, he excavated half of the bed , but was able to escape. May be this is the reason he is not going in the trap. From other point he is continuing trying to get to my beans, that fenced the same way. I am about to buy some rat poison, roll it in a ball of peanut butter and throw in his poison ivy suite...

As I said everything out there likes peanut butter. Should you lace peanut butter with poison you will have NO clue what will eat it; it could be your neighbors cat. Which is why I prefer the smoke bomb approach.

Not to mention once the critter is in the trap you have to do something with it - many people never think about the "Now what".

As mentioned here many times using fruits such as melons, apricots, or even apples will bait the woodchuck. However you must place the trap in a pathway used by the target animal.

Now what? Not a question. I have 55 gallon barrel full of water. It will go for a swim, with the trap. I loved animals before... Now they are getting to me...

Hi, I totally understand your concerns. I have trapped four ground hogs over the years. I have found them to be very clever and have a keen sense of smell. Be sure to wear gloves when preparing the treats you are going to trap it with. They can sniff humans well. I used a very ripe cantaloupe slice and wore gloves when preparing it. The first time I didn't wear the gloves and they (a family of three) didn't want to eat it. The second time I tried with gloves, it worked. I think I caught the mama and she had babies. She was huge, around 12-15 pounds. I call the local animal control and the got her the next day and took her to somewhere else to live. I hope she didn't cause troubles at the new locations. I caught the babies individually later and they two were removed. One went crazy and broke it's neck in the cage, very tragic and smelly.

Good luck and nice to hear you are trying a humane solution as well.

Oh, yes, they are clever. I installed 4 feet tall fence without posts - in wiggles when you touch it and feels unsafe to climb on. It worked so far on my bean bed. But i also have this fence between my and my neighbor land - right on the path he come here before. On my side there is a barrel with lettuce planted on top, about 6 inches from the fence. So he figured out if he climbs near the barrel, the fence lean to the barrel and become stable. So it got my lettuce for dinner. It is only question of time when he eats my beans.... About the smell - I touch all the fences and my dogs pee around them... It doesn't maker any difference. I think he is just too smart. My last attempt - I planted beans right in the trap... will see how he will be getting to those. I almost feel like to pull all the plants he likes to eat from the garden, bring them to the trash station and forget about it. The problem is, when no cookies available, hunger brings you to the plain bread... so he will lean to eat the rest of my garden. I feel trapped myself...

Relocation of wild animals should NOT be considered humane. Plopping an animal who is at all territorial into and envirovment that is completely unknown to it and possibly already claimed by another is tantamount to a death sentence. And that would be a death sentence Ma Nature's way which is generally a lot uglier than death sentence by varmint rifle...

While I wouldn't call relocation inhumane simply because in nature
animals are raised then leave the nest and have to venture out into
unknown territory. Your children prob also did this. Could this be what happened in this case? Woodchucks are certainly known to get around.

But Certainly there are other consequences to animal relocation:
It is illegal in some states
Your problem becomes someone elses problem - not nice.

Prob the reason it is illegal in places. Prob rarely enforced but I have recently found it is illegal in CT. So having a BIG barrel is helpful - could save legal action.

To OP:
Is leaving your dog in/near garden not an option?

Also woodchucks are so skittish if you see one before it sees you watch were it goes when spooked. They always run into the nearest hole.

The bait that worked for me last year with just one try was sweet potato. I'd place a tiny sliver of freshly cut SP at the trap entrance and a large piece inside just past the trap trigger plate. The GH would have a taste of the sliver and then go inside after the mother load.

They are not skittish at all, at least not mine(. My husband yesterday manage to hit it with a small rock(not painful, but he definitely get him) while he was dining out on my lettuce. he jumped 2 feet to the side, then looked at us like - are you nuts? Returned back and continue feeding, until my husband found some more rocks and got closer to him. No, he is not afraid of anything(