Inspection found a groundhog (agent, realty, broker, Realtors)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Relocating is often illegal unless you have some sort of permit. Which a critter control company may or may not have. It is also often a death sentance to put a wild animal in an unfamiliar territory it doesn't know. Since Ohio has tons of ground hogs I suspect that any trapped groundhog (yes most likely a live trap) would be killed.
I certainly wouldn't backfill with anything until you know the burrow is empty.
Is this a slab or a basement?Not an expert but I would think if its under a slab it could cause the slab to crack eventually. If its next to a foundation wall its a possible avenue for moisture damage.
I would want the hole backfilled as much as possible although I don't how how you would get dirt back up all the way into a really long burrow.
I don't see why its not normal to ask for removal - its a cost to hire company to do it. Of course if you ask for removal they may try flushing it out with a hose themselves which may or may not work. Requiring a company to do it would give you a record of animal caught.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,550 posts, read 81,117,303 times
Reputation: 57755
Quote:
Originally Posted by kodokan
Well, we've got a day or two to wrangle about it, as we're still waiting on the radon result before we go back to the sellers with our wish list.
The burrow IS interesting, isn't it. Would a burrow actually cause any damage to a house foundations? I found lots of articles saying it could, theoretically, but no actual accounts of people saying it did for them. Would a groundhog actually burrow right down under a basement, and put in a network of tunnels that could lead to damage? They seem so small...
Thanks for the input. I really don't know if this is a genuine issue, or if I'm doing the equivalent of when newbies moved to my previous state of Arizona, and went 'squeeee - scorpions in the house!' whilst us locals all gently laughed at them.
They can go deep enough to burrow below the foundation and under the house, but the biggest problem is the water getting into the tunnels, then the soil washing away from the foundation, causing it to fail and allowing movement that cracks the walls, or worse.
We're trying very hard not to be 'those' buyers, honestly. We understand it's not a brand new house and haven't asked for anything cosmetic, or visible to the naked eye (appliances being at the end of their life, etc). The only other things we've asked for are electrical safety issues (like non-functioning GFCIs and other faulty wiring), fixing a plumbing leak, and patching a few bits on the roof.
That's why I wanted to canvass opinion on the groundhog. I was thinking it was a no brainer to ask it to be taken care of; I was equating it with inspections in Arizona finding subterranean termites: not a major deal and nothing to pull out over, but absolutely 100% something for the seller to treat and fix before closing. So I was quite surprised when the realtor said it shouldn't be something we ask for, especially since it's almost zero effort on the part of the sellers to have a trap set out for a few days, and we've already said they can choose whether to make repairs or do a closing credit for everything else. We're being very low maintenance!
This has been a very helpful discussion, though. I'll ask, but not now be over-bothered if the sellers push back. I didn't realize humane trapping was such a viable option, and was imagining my daughter regularly checking to see if we had the gruesomely squished remains of a groundhog in a kill trap. I can certainly sell humane trapping as being for the groundhog's benefit, to get it away from a residential area with dangerous roads.
Oh - probably a good thing it's still too early for me to have called, then!
So since I'm clearly searching on the wrong things, is there a non-commercial service that I can call and ask for advice, and could tell me if it's legal here to trap and release, and where a nice local release spot might be?
Your county/city also may have an animal control bureau. Ours lets you "rent" a humane trap that you can return to them. Yours may also. They look like this:
Relocating is often illegal unless you have some sort of permit. Which a critter control company may or may not have. It is also often a death sentance to put a wild animal in an unfamiliar territory it doesn't know. Since Ohio has tons of ground hogs I suspect that any trapped groundhog (yes most likely a live trap) would be killed.
I certainly wouldn't backfill with anything until you know the burrow is empty.
Is this a slab or a basement?Not an expert but I would think if its under a slab it could cause the slab to crack eventually. If its next to a foundation wall its a possible avenue for moisture damage.
I would want the hole backfilled as much as possible although I don't how how you would get dirt back up all the way into a really long burrow.
I don't see why its not normal to ask for removal - its a cost to hire company to do it. Of course if you ask for removal they may try flushing it out with a hose themselves which may or may not work. Requiring a company to do it would give you a record of animal caught.
I live in Ohio, my friend's father didn't get a permit or contact anyone, he just did it.
Game Wardens are few and far between and have bigger fish to fry. They will not get involved unless you call them.
The groundhog will be fine if relocated, unless he is a she and the little ones get left behind.
Again, a little research and you can find out when they are likely to have little ones and time the trapping accordingly.
Then you had a rare situation. It's like having only one mouse. If you have a healthy ground hog population in the area, they always seem to return--and I've dealt with plenty! It's a good thing, for them, that I like them.
Your county/city also may have an animal control bureau. Ours lets you "rent" a humane trap that you can return to them. Yours may also. They look like this:
We lived one place where the groundhogs tunneled under the concrete patio which was under a second floor porch. The porch was in place with an I-beam so not really going anyplace. The patio did crack because of lack of continuous same support underneath, i.e. because of the tunnel. But we loved watching the gentle peaceful groundhogs. So did our hunter cat who also tunneled under there and took care of the situation.
Another place, neighbors so disliked them they shot them.
There's one where we are now but he has not shown himself for a while. Other wildlife may have taken care of that.
They can go deep enough to burrow below the foundation and under the house, but the biggest problem is the water getting into the tunnels, then the soil washing away from the foundation, causing it to fail and allowing movement that cracks the walls, or worse.
The house has an unfinished basement, which appears to be in very good order with no worrisome cracks or leaks. The tunnel is right up against the house wall. I suppose the risk is that water can get down the tunnel, and maybe even then freeze. But then someone commented earlier that groundhogs like high, dry places for their burrows, so presumably if there was a bunch of water pouring down the hole/ seeping up from the ground, the hog wouldn't be there..?
I did a similar search as you to try and find accounts of damage actually happening, and I too only found links to commercial pest control websites trying to sell me their services based on a picture of the outside of a burrow under a concrete slab, and a lot of scaremongering. If it doesn't damage the house, it can stay!
Then you had a rare situation. It's like having only one mouse. If you have a healthy ground hog population in the area, they always seem to return--and I've dealt with plenty! It's a good thing, for them, that I like them.
There is a huge woods behind my house and that is probably where he lived. I think he visited my yard because I had an old apple tree.....he liked to eat the apples. He had his escape tunnel by my shed.
That old apple tree was killed off by the extreme cold we had last winter.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
