WILDLIFE REMOVAL

Groundhog Removal in Toronto, Oakville & the GTA

Groundhogs out from under decks, sheds, porches and foundations

Groundhog removal for homes in Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington and Milton. When a groundhog digs in under your deck, shed, porch or foundation, we find every hole in the burrow, plan around any young in spring, then move the groundhog out with a one-way door or live trapping by the licensed trapper on our staff. Wire mesh is then buried along the base so it can't dig back in.

Bitten or scratched by a groundhog? Wash it with soap and warm water right away, then call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital and report it to your public health unit.

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AT A GLANCE

Groundhogs at a Glance

Size: 40 to 65 cm long with the tail; usually 2 to 4 kg
Colour: Grizzled brown, yellowish to dark reddish, with black feet
Body: Stocky and low, flat head, short bushy tail
How to tell: A hole 25 to 30 cm across with a mound of soil at it
Active: Out from about March; underground by October to hibernate
Where found: Under decks, sheds, porches and steps, along foundations, in gardens
Health risks: Runs from people; can bite if cornered

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

Signs of a Groundhog Under Your Deck, Shed or Porch

If you’ve noticed any of these, call and a licensed technician will tell you what it points to.

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A hole about 25 to 30 cm across at the edge of a deck, shed, porch, step or foundation, with a mound of fresh soil in front of it
Smaller holes nearby with no soil around them: the burrow's back doors, dug from below
A stocky brown animal in the yard by day, often early morning or evening, that dives into a hole when you step outside
Beans, peas, carrot tops, tomatoes or clover eaten in the garden
Gnawed bark or claw marks on fruit trees, shrubs, deck boards or siding
A shrill whistle from the yard when the animal is startled

Groundhog that looks sick, injured or orphaned?

Don't handle it. In Ontario, only authorized wildlife rehabilitators can care for sick, injured or orphaned wildlife, and they can tell you what to do. If you think a groundhog may have rabies and no person or pet has been exposed, call the province's Wildlife Health Information Line at 1-888-574-6656.

Ontario: Find a wildlife rehabilitator

IDENTIFICATION

How to Tell It's a Groundhog

Groundhog and woodchuck are two names for the same animal, Marmota monax. It is a marmot, a large member of the squirrel family, and the only marmot found in Ontario: Canada's other three live in the West. Expect a stocky animal 40 to 65 cm long, including a short bushy tail of about 15 cm, usually 2 to 4 kg and heavier in the fall. The fur is grizzled brown, from yellowish to dark reddish, with a straw-coloured belly and black feet. Its eyes, ears and nose sit high on the head, so it can watch from the edge of the burrow while staying hidden. Groundhogs are out by day.

Groundhog or skunk: skunks, raccoons, foxes and rabbits all take shelter in groundhog burrows, so the hole alone won't tell you who is home. Watch for the animal: a groundhog is stocky and brown and is out by day.
Groundhog or mole: a groundhog leaves an open hole 25 to 30 cm across with a mound of soil at it. Raised tunnels and molehills in the lawn are moles.
Tooth-popping and chattering from a cornered groundhog can mean it is about to bite. Back away.

OUR APPROACH

How Our Groundhog Removal Works

Step 1
Find Every Hole
A burrow has a main hole with a mound of soil and one to three back holes dug from below, often hidden. We find them all, because the main hole can sit well away from the deck or shed while the tunnel and nest end up close to it. Each hole is plugged loosely with crumpled paper: one that gets pushed open is in use.
Step 2
Plan Around the Young
Young groundhogs are born in April and May and come above ground at five to six weeks. Ontario's advice is to move groundhogs out in late summer, once the young are weaned and living on their own, so that is when the work is done. From October to March nothing is sealed: groundhogs are underground for the winter by October, and one may be hibernating inside. Young that can't be released go to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.
Step 3
One-Way Door or Live Trap
Where the rest of the base can be screened first, a one-way door goes on the main hole, so the groundhog can leave but can't get back in. Otherwise the licensed trapper on our staff sets a cage trap at the burrow, only when the property owner asks. Traps are checked at least once a day, as Ontario requires, shaded in summer and closed at night so a skunk or raccoon isn't caught. The groundhog is released within 24 hours close to where it was caught (Ontario's guidance is within 1 km), on private land only with the owner's permission.
Step 4
Bury the Mesh
Once the plugged holes have sat untouched for 72 hours, the burrow is filled and heavy wire mesh is fixed along the base of the deck, shed, porch or steps. It goes at least 30 cm into the ground and bends outward in an L, so a groundhog digging at the base hits wire. Blocking one hole alone doesn't work: the burrow has other ways in.

HEALTH RISKS

Are Groundhogs Dangerous?

Not often. A healthy groundhog runs from people and dives into its burrow. It will fight back if cornered, and some put on a bluff charge, so keep children and pets away from one. The bigger concern is rabies. In Ontario, rabies is carried mostly by raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes, and the groundhog is on the province's list of other animals that have occasionally tested positive. Rabies spreads through bites that break the skin, or infected saliva in a cut or in the eyes, nose or mouth. If a groundhog bites or scratches you, wash the wound with soap and warm water right away, call your doctor or go to the nearest hospital, and report it to your public health unit.

The groundhog tick lives in the burrows and nests of its hosts and is common on cats and dogs. It is the third most common tick sent in from people in Ontario and can carry Powassan virus.
Ontario requires cats, dogs and ferrets over 3 months old to have rabies shots.
For health questions any time, Health811 connects you with a registered nurse: call 811.

RISKS AND DAMAGE

What Damage Do Groundhogs Do?

A groundhog out in the open lawn often does little harm. The Toronto Wildlife Centre says their tunnels usually don't cause significant damage, and in many cases the best thing is to leave them be. It is a different job when the burrow runs under a building. Burrows can undermine foundations, pools and sidewalks, and a burrow can be about 1.5 m deep and 2.4 to 20 m long. In the garden, groundhogs eat vegetables, beans, peas and tomatoes, and they gnaw fruit trees and shrubs and climb cherry and apple trees. They occasionally gnaw or claw at decks and siding, and they chew wood and may gnaw pipes and wires.

A groundhog in an open lawn or field can usually stay; one burrowing under a deck, shed, step or foundation is worth dealing with in late summer, after the young are on their own and before it goes underground for winter.

CAUSES

Why Groundhogs Dig Under Decks and Sheds

Groundhogs need two things close together: fresh plants to eat and a place to dig a burrow. A deck, shed or porch next to a lawn or vegetable garden gives both. They usually stay within 15 to 45 m of the burrow, so a groundhog under your shed is feeding in your yard or the next one. Young groundhogs often take over empty burrows, so a hole left open after one moves on can be used again.

What Draws Them In

Vegetable gardens, especially beans, peas, carrots and tomatoes
Clover and grassy lawns
Fruit trees and fallen fruit
Old burrows left open
Tall grass, brush, wood piles and rock piles near buildings

How They Get In

Open space under decks and porches
Under sheds and other outbuildings
Under front steps and walkways
Along house and garage foundations
Along fence lines and stone walls
At the base of trees

HABITS

Groundhog Habits Through an Ontario Year

Habitat

Groundhogs live in open country: fields, clearings, roadsides, fence rows and yards. They are found in patches across Canada, except Nunavut and Newfoundland. The Toronto Wildlife Centre says it is common for groundhogs to dig burrow systems in city and suburban backyards. A burrow usually has a main hole, one or more spyholes, and separate nest and toilet chambers. Winter burrows are usually dug below the frost line.

Diet

Groundhogs eat plants: grasses, clover, alfalfa, wild plants and garden vegetables, with beans, peas and carrot tops among their favourites. In early spring they eat bark and small branches. They feed mostly in the early morning and evening, and only rarely eat a snail or insect.

Life Cycle

Groundhogs mate in March and April, soon after waking. After about 30 to 32 days, one litter is born, usually four young and anywhere from two to six; in Canada most arrive in May. Newborns are blind and hairless, about 10 cm long and 30 g. Their eyes open at about four weeks, and at five to six weeks they come above ground, eating plants instead of milk. They head off on their own soon after, in late June or early July, which is why complaints rise in July and why the work waits until late summer.

Seasonal Behaviour in Ontario

Groundhogs are true hibernators. They fatten up through late summer, and in Canada the first adults go underground in late September; by October they are all in. Body temperature drops to about 3°C and the heart slows from about 80 beats a minute to four or five. Most come out in March, sometimes digging up through snow, with males first. Groundhog Day on February 2 is folklore: most groundhogs are still asleep.

PREVENTION

Groundhog Control: How to Keep Them Out

Screen the open base of decks, porches and sheds with heavy wire mesh buried in an L before a groundhog moves in.
Fence the vegetable garden at least 90 cm high, with the bottom buried about 30 cm and bent outward, and a loose top that is hard to climb.
Fill old burrows near the house once you are sure they are empty, and cover the spot with heavy wire mesh.
Pick up fallen fruit and ripe vegetables.
Clear tall grass, brush, wood piles and rock piles from around buildings.
Lay gravel around the base of sheds and other buildings to discourage digging.
Try a motion-activated sprinkler where a groundhog keeps feeding.
Check the base of the deck, shed and steps for fresh holes from March on, when groundhogs wake, so a problem is found early.

How to Get Rid of Groundhogs Yourself

You can move a groundhog out from under a deck or shed yourself, inside Ontario's rules. Wait for late summer, when the young are weaned. Then make the burrow unpleasant for several days in a row: urine-soaked kitty litter clumps by the entrance, or a radio tuned to a talk station. Next, plug each hole loosely with crumpled paper. If the paper sits untouched for 72 hours and nothing else suggests a groundhog is home, the burrow is likely empty: fill the hole and cover it with heavy wire mesh.

Don't block a burrow from October to March, when a groundhog may be hibernating inside.
Don't gas, smoke or poison a groundhog: see the rules below.
If you live-trap one, release it within 24 hours close to where you caught it (Ontario says within 1 km), on someone else's land only with their permission, and check the trap at least once a day.
Using body-gripping traps or poison could lead to criminal or provincial charges, the City of Toronto warns.
Call a professional when the burrow runs under the house, the deck is too low to reach the holes, or young may be inside.

Is It Legal to Remove a Groundhog in Ontario?

Yes, within limits. The groundhog isn't a species at risk in Ontario, and it isn't on the province's lists of furbearing, game or specially protected mammals. It is still wildlife under Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act, so the rules for protecting property apply:

A property owner can deal with a groundhog that is damaging, or about to damage, their property, on their own land, but no more than needed and without causing it unnecessary suffering.
Anyone doing it for you has to be an agent Ontario allows, such as a licensed trapper, and can act only when the property owner asks.
A live-caught groundhog is released within 24 hours close to where it was caught, on private land only with the owner's permission. A sick, injured or very young one goes to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.
Poison and glue are banned for killing or catching wildlife.
Gas in a groundhog burrow is off the table near a home: Ontario's pesticide rules say an exterminator fumigating a groundhog burrow must make sure it doesn't open into a building and that every entrance is at least 30 m from one. We don't kill groundhogs, and we don't use gas, poison or glue.

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Licensed Trapper on Staff

When an animal has to be caught, a licensed trapper on our staff live-traps it. Bats are never trapped: they leave through one-way doors, in Ontario's exclusion windows.

Ontario's Release Rules

A live-caught animal is released within 24 hours, close to where it was caught, and only on property whose owner agrees. Sick, injured or orphaned animals go to an authorized wildlife rehabilitator.

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COMMON QUESTIONS

Groundhog Removal: Questions We Get

Will the city remove a groundhog from my yard?

Generally not a healthy one. The City of Toronto says Animal Services staff aren't licensed trappers and don't provide or rent traps; a property owner can trap the animal or hire a wildlife agent. For a groundhog that looks sick or hurt in Toronto, call 311: Toronto Animal Services will come to check it. Elsewhere, an authorized wildlife rehabilitator can advise you.

Can I trap a groundhog and drive it to a park or the country?

No. Ontario's rules say a live-caught groundhog goes back within 24 hours, close to where it was caught, and the province's guidance is within 1 km. A groundhog that looks healthy can still be carrying a disease such as rabies, so moving it far can spread it. The Toronto Wildlife Centre also warns that relocating groundhogs harms them and doesn't fix what drew them in.

Won't a groundhog released nearby just come back?

It can, because it goes back inside the area it knows. Ontario says moving an animal won't always solve the problem, because whatever attracted it is still there, and that you have to act right away to keep it from returning. That is why the mesh goes in along the base as soon as the burrow is empty.

There's a groundhog under my deck in October. What now?

Most groundhogs are underground for the winter by October, and nothing should be sealed until spring, because one hibernating inside would be shut in. Mark the holes and call us in spring for an inspection. The work itself is planned for late summer, once any young born in April and May are on their own.

How much does groundhog removal cost?

We quote each job after the inspection rather than publish a set price. A one-way door and live trapping take different numbers of visits, and the length of deck, porch or shed base to screen, how many holes there are and whether young are in the burrow all change the work. Call (905) 739-7888 or send the quote form and tell us where the groundhog is digging.

Sources

Last updated October 10, 2026

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Groundhog Removal Across Toronto, Oakville & the GTA

We remove groundhogs from homes and businesses throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario.

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