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Burrow specialists · Foundation-safe · Warrantied barriers

Groundhog Trapping in South Jersey

A groundhog is the only backyard animal in South Jersey that moves real amounts of earth. One woodchuck can excavate hundreds of pounds of soil into a burrow system with multiple entrances, and when that system runs under a shed slab, stoop, or foundation footing, the problem stops being about the garden. Acorn Wildlife traps groundhogs across Camden, Burlington, Gloucester, and Mercer counties and builds the buried barriers that keep the burrow from re-renting.

Short answer: We trap groundhogs in live traps set on their burrow commute, remove them per New Jersey rules, then close the burrow system and install buried barriers along decks, sheds, and foundations. Trapping usually takes 2 to 5 days; the barrier is what makes it permanent.

Groundhog Trapping in South Jersey

How Do I Know It's a Groundhog?

Short answer: Look for the front door: a 10 to 12 inch burrow entrance with a fan of fresh-dug soil, usually against a shed, deck, stoop, or foundation, plus a daytime animal the size of a small dog grazing your garden. Daytime digging means groundhog. Skunks and opossums work nights and dig far less.

The Burrow

A main entrance 10 to 12 inches wide with a soil fan, plus one or more clean secondary exits nearby with no soil pile. Those hidden back doors are why partial fixes fail.

Sightings

A chunky brown grazer out in daylight, standing up periscope-style between bites, and beelining to the same hole when startled. Groundhogs are strictly daytime animals.

Garden Damage

Wide, low crop losses: beans, tomatoes, hostas mowed to stubs, melon-sized bites out of pumpkins, and gnaw marks low on fruit-tree bark.

Structural Signs

Soil heaving or settling next to a slab, gaps opening under a stoop, and hollow-sounding ground along a shed edge. That is the burrow talking.

Hole under the shed but never see the digger? Compare skunks, opossums, and groundhogs in our under-deck and shed guide. The soil fan and daytime activity are the groundhog tells.

How Acorn Removes Groundhogs

Groundhog work is trap-and-barrier work. There is no one-way-door shortcut, because a groundhog burrow has multiple entrances, including exits you have not found. Miss one and the animal is still home.

A groundhog at its burrow entrance in a South Jersey yard
A groundhog in an Acorn live trap, ready for relocation

Live Trapping on the Commute

We set live traps directly on the worn paths between the burrow and the food, baited with what the animal is already eating. Set placement matters more than bait: a trap on the commute catches in days, a trap in the open catches raccoons and cats. Traps are checked daily, as New Jersey requires.

Closing the Burrow the Right Way

After removal we confirm the burrow is empty, then collapse and fill the system and cap entrances with hardware cloth. In spring we check for pups first. Groundhog pups are born April into May and stay below ground for weeks, and sealing them in is a cruelty and odor disaster we refuse to create.

What New Jersey Law Allows

Groundhogs are a regulated game species in New Jersey, and trapping and relocation fall under NJDEP Fish and Wildlife rules, including restrictions on where trapped animals can be released. Acorn Wildlife operates under NJDEP license #92411B and will tell you exactly what the rules mean for your job, not a sanitized version.

Burrows vs. Foundations: The Damage Nobody Sees Until It's Done

This is why we treat a burrow against a structure differently from one at the back fence. Against a structure, the job includes probing the tunnel run, filling voids as we close the system, and flagging any settlement that needs a contractor's eyes. A fence-line burrow in open ground is a smaller, cheaper job, and we will tell you which one you have at the inspection. Left alone, burrows also get inherited: skunks and rabbits move into vacant groundhog tunnels, which is how one ignored hole becomes three different animal problems in two seasons.

A torn soffit entry point above a snowy roofline

Sealing Groundhogs Out for Good

Groundhogs are professional diggers, so barriers have to go underground. We trench hardware cloth along the structure line with an outward-turned apron 10 to 12 inches deep, so a digging groundhog hits mesh and gives up. Barrier work carries the Acorn Seal-Tight Warranty: if animals get back under through a barrier we built, we come back at no charge.

✓  Trenched hardware-cloth barrier with outward apron along decks, sheds, and stoops

✓  Burrow entrances capped in mesh only after the system is confirmed empty

✓  Voids under slabs filled as the burrow is closed

✓  Fence-line and garden protection options priced separately, honestly

Ground-level exclusion methods are on the foundation and crawl space page, with the whole philosophy on our wildlife exclusion page. Related reading: what's digging under your deck or shed.

Acorn technicians sealing a soffit return

Groundhog Trapping Near You

Groundhog FAQs

Can't I just flood or fumigate the burrow?
Please don't. Flooding rarely works and can worsen soil movement next to a foundation. Fumigants are restricted, dangerous near occupied structures, and in spring they kill pups slowly underground. Trapping plus barrier work is legal, humane, and it actually holds.
Will groundhogs damage my foundation?
They can. The burrow removes bearing soil from under slabs, stoops, and shallow footings, and the symptoms show up as cracks and settling. A burrow in open lawn is a nuisance; a burrow against the house is a structural clock. That distinction drives our quote.
When are baby groundhogs in the burrow?
In South Jersey, pups are typically born April into May and stay underground for about six weeks. From April through June we check every burrow for pups before closing anything. It can add a visit, and it is not optional with us.
Do repellents, gum, or vibrating stakes work?
We have not seen any of them empty a burrow, and university extension guidance agrees. A groundhog with an established burrow next to food does not leave over a smell. Removal and a buried barrier are the fix that does not need re-buying every spring.
How fast can you get the groundhog out?
Traps typically go out at the inspection, most animals are caught in 2 to 5 days, and burrow closure plus the barrier follows the same week. Call or Text (856) 398-1028 and tell us where the hole is and how close it sits to the structure.

Ready to Close the Burrow?

Same-week inspection, humane trapping, and a buried barrier that holds.