Groundhogs are not a protected species ……if you get my drift. i wouldn’t use poison as it may then be eaten by another animal and then you wind up killing an unintended one. trapping and relocating is also cruel to the groundhog and to the person who now has the groundgog.

Groubdhogs are lifting your grass? Are you sure? The ones around here romp around on the surface. Usually the key to groundhogs is figuring out where they live and convincing them to move ... we had a family living under our shed, we had them excluded from there (mesh fencing closed off their "entrance" under the shed and a bit underground there), and they moved ... there's one that lives nextdoor now (don't know if he's related), but we're thinking he probably lives under their deck or more likely their hot tub; we just see him climb over our stone wall while scavenging.

Digging up your grass sounds more like moles ... or a critter that's lifting grass looking for bugs, like a skunk. Pictures might help identify better your issue ...

It is a protected species at least it is here in Canada. I wouldn't trap it myself, I would let a professional do it but that will come with a high cost.

Are you sure it is a groundhog? Skunks and opossums are more likely to be grubbing in a lawn.

tj

No, not sure it's a groundhog, I'm assuming this die to previous sightings. Either way I have something destroying my lawn, yes it could be a mole.

Ignore the dried out grass, we had a kiddie pool there. 😁 At least they went there.

Any idea how to stop this? I haven't seen racoons recently but we definitely have them in the area.

Thanks tj, I'll check to see if I have grubs. I guess they like the new sod as your link states. Grrrrr

No rolled up sod this morning, thinking it was originally groundhogs I laid out bright balloons, pinwheels and spread a ton of Costco Chili Powder around the grass. Coincidence or not who knows but it also seems that the squirrels are scared of the pinwheels, something I should have put 2 months ago before they ravished my tomatoes (unlike any other summer, I'm assuming it was due to the dry summer we had and they were super thirsty).

Meh, chipmunks will go after fruit, low hanging or otherwise, regardless of weather, I'm sure squirrels are no different. Once they've discovered the buffet for the year, it's all over. Pinwheels are a great trick for birds, too ... we use shiny ones around our blueberry bushes (except not this year because of all the wind lately).

Mammalian critters definitely don't like capsaicin ... pepper flakes, chili powder, hot sauce, etc. are classics for detering them from getting into flower beds and also making bird feed less appealing - mammals, like squirrels, can taste it, while birds don't have such receptors and don't care.

You might want to figure out a few options to rotate through (spicy, garlicky, etc.), so they don't get wise to it.