AMESBURY — Besides their renowned ability to predict an early or late spring, groundhogs, or woodchucks as they're frequently called, are known to be resourceful, industrious mammals that enjoy a generally positive reputation among their human brethren.
But a handful of folks in town aren't impressed with what's being deemed a bumper crop of the creatures this year, and their vast underground network of dens and decimation of home gardens have even the most peaceful recreational gardeners screaming.
Hollywood immortalized the naughty nature of the woodchuck in its hit movie "Caddyshack," when it created the protagonist gopher (actually a woodchuck) and pitted it against the hapless Bill Murray as he sought to fill, flood and smoke out the nuisance woodchuck tearing up Bushwood Country Club.
Turns out the movie wasn't far off in its depiction of the crafty critter, according to Cider Hill Farm's Glenn Cook, who notes he's got at least 100 woodchucks burrowed on his farm this year.
"There's a real nice crop of them this year," Cook said. "I'm noticing a lot of them and a number of offspring. There's a lot of little ones that just seemed to have hatched."
As they set about doing what they do best up at Cider Hill, Cook tries to keep a level head — leaving them alone if they burrow in dormant sections of the farm. But cute as they are, he notes the critters can eat up an entire pumpkin crop in one night if left to their own devices.
"They like to eat everything that we grow," said Cook, who just finished planting a 3-acre plot with pumpkins — a vulnerable crop since woodchucks adore both the plant and the pumpkin itself.
"They'll just chew them right down to the base, and they'll do hundreds of plants," Cook said. "They like to live along the fence lines where they have easy access. The woodchucks are definitely a nuisance for us."
In rating their destructive prowess, Cook places woodchucks second only to deer, which are so damaging to the farmer's trade that the farm's forced to construct fencing around the crops to keep those animals out. But there's no similar construction available that's designed to keep out woodchucks, unless it's electrified.
"It has to be a light electric fence, or something that they can't chew through. We have a lot of deer fencing up. It's a plastic mesh, but the woodchucks chew right through it."
As Cook detailed their devilish antics, he observed an approximately 3-week-old woodchuck scamper past him and wriggle into an exposed irrigation pipe on the property.
"There he is again," Cook said, as the woodchuck poked his head out and stared.
"They're actually kind of cute," said Cook. "He was probably born three weeks ago — he's about 3 pounds or so. Right out of the gate they're out here eating. The first few days they don't understand hazards and danger. They just sort of look at you."
Cook said he's noticed a lot of dens this year, or so-called summer cottages, since the critters live on the perimeters of the property during the winter and take up residence in the field only once their favorite crop pops up.
"As soon as the pumpkins begin to bear fruit, they will move their den right into the pumpkin patch," Cook said.
Once that happens, Cook has to deal with the problem, and though he doesn't claim much success with what he calls "lead poisoning" or smoking or flooding a den, sometimes the end result is that the woodchuck has to go, and that's where the cute story ends.
"It's a heartbreaking story, but you can buy these smoke bombs downtown," said Cook. "Usually the dens have two to three holes. It's not a cute ending. But most of the time they just cough a little bit and they dig out a few days later. And off they go again. Most of them survive our attempts."
For the most part, woodchucks are just part of life on a farm and are far less stressful than the deluge of rain in recent weeks, he said. But he feels for the home garden enthusiast, who generally toils all spring to enjoy a small but proud crop.
"One woodchuck can come in and totally dishearten someone," he said. "A woodchuck can go through that (home garden) just in a night."
Besides pumpkins, woodchucks enjoy broccoli, clover, beans, cabbage, lettuce, different types of grasses and a variety of flowers. They grow to about 16 to 20 inches in length and can weigh up to 10 pounds. Their dens have been located as deep as 6 feet underground, but when it comes to protecting crops against them, it's generally thought that a fence dug 5 to 10 inches down into the soil will do the trick. Trapping the critters is another possible means of eradication, and Cook said many people go the route of the "heart trap."
"The only thing is you're not really supposed to be moving wildlife from one area to another," Cook said. "Homeowners don't want you to move all your woodchucks and put them in the town forest that borders their home garden."
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