Thursday, April 14, 2005

5 Deadmen in the basement...

...is not the title of a new horror movie, it's what's happening this week. Our back wall had a slight bow in it, so there are now 5 vertical steel beams (deadmen) with adjustment plates set to hold the wall where it is. The foundation contractors are also building up the window wells and adding dirt to build slope away from the foundation. The big issue to face now is what to do about the groundhog. I have finally seen him after filling 4 burrow holes around the house and the yard. His entrance is under the back porch. The county extension agent suggests the following in order of least to most work:
  • Buy coyote scent at the hunting and fishing place and put it around the hole to scare him away
  • Buy sulphur bomb and put down the hole then cover. (This will kill if he's in the burrow, if he's not there he will abandon it due to smell)
  • Live trap him and take him away (Agent recommended not letting him stay in the trap very long as they will chew through the wires pretty quickly)
Or I could just go rent "Caddyshack" and try to forget about the whole thing...

2 comments:

hovercraft said...

Caddyshack being doubly appropriate in this case, because what's the last name of the blind elderly couple..?

Mike said...

Yes, why it would be our last name of course! (I love having family members like my little brother come and comment.)

Brian-

I'm hopeful that the groundhog left after the backhoe put dirt around the exterior. They filled in his entrance and so far (3 days) I haven't seen a burrow started again.

As to the sump pump- The first question the county agent asked me was did I have a sump pump? He said ground hogs tunnel under foundations and can come up in the sump pit!! I was delighted to say I didn't have one.

-Mike