Speculate: Where did the varmints go? (Long question)

Heavily wooded 7 acres in south-central Minnesota. For two or three years I've had a growing problem with woodchucks. I've also had a few possums, occasional raccoons and skunks. I would see woodchucks almost every day, young and mature. But over the summer the abundant 'chucks seem to have disappeared. They had tunnels under the crushed-rock floor of two machine sheds, two older sheds, even under my concrete front steps. But they have disappeared. Also the possums and raccoons have stopped regularly showing up, although I noticed a skunk smell a few nights ago. So where would the woodchucks in particular have gone?


I know: The first thought is coyotes. But I've lived here for almost 30 years and have never seen a coyote, coyote tracks, scat or other signs of one; no fur from kill sites; no howling at night. I have outside cats that never disappear, which would be a major target for coyotes. I have lots of cottontails and dozens of red and gray squirrels, and many whitetail fawns every summer, with never a sign of predation. No one lives near enough to have poisoned the varmints, or hunted them (illegal here anyway). My 103-pound dog would eagerly kill them, but he only got one 'chuck in late spring and has even abandoned sniffing at their burrow entrances, which have become overgrown with weeds. The dog is not free to roam -- always with me during the day, in kennel at night. There have been no odors of dead creatures in or around my buildings.


So why would woodchucks in particular have disappeared? They always had plenty of food available. Do they just decide to move on? I'm interested in your thoughts and experiences.
 
Not an answer to your Question but here in NH we have a bumper crop of Squirrels, I have never seen as many both alive and flattened on the road. folks are saying it is due to a bumper crop of Acorns last yr. We were traveling on Rt.95 last week in Maine the highway was dotted with bodies it makes you wonder what makes a critter want to cross 4 and sometimes 6 lanes counting north and south directions of traffic going over 70 mph. I wonder if the predators will be plentiful next yr. Coyote, Fox, fishers and Bobcat. Gardeners all over the area are having trouble with the Squirrels as am I.
 
Maybe a neighbor is feeding them "treats" or lead.

They do "range", as we have no woodchuck mounds at our place - but they used to come visit my garden for lunch (coming from a neighboring place). New neighbors moved in a couple years ago - woodchucks seemed to disappear.

So maybe the chucks from your place went visiting to a neighbor and never made it back "home".
 
the chucks we have in the Northwest don't like the hot weather. They go into hibernation about the end of July or first part of August. We don't see them until March the next year. One year a few back, they came out as usual then weather turned real bad and they went back into the dens. Didn't seem like near as many came back out. I figured maybe a disease. Quite a few of mine caught "lead poisoning" this year thanks to my .17 savage.
 
Years ago I was starting to see some woodchucks on my back hill. My dog could not go there because it was past her under ground wire fence range. Well then my dog was acting weird and I noticed her belly was torn up and was getting infected. After the trip to the vet and operation I could see 3 distinct large gouges. I'm thinking she was laying in the sun and a Hawk came after her ! I also base this on after she was getting better and back outside she was frantic barking at a large bird in the neighbors tree. Yep looked like a Hawk. This also seemed to be about the time the ground hogs disappeared too. So I think a Hawk got my dog ( almost ) and the ground hogs too.
 
Up here, we have coyotes howling all the time. Have had an outside cat that roams freely. Even in her elderly years (she's 16 now), she never has a problem, and couldn't climb a tree now to save her life!

We've also noticed this being a great year, mostly free from groundhogs, gophers and skunks. We've smelled a couple stinkers the past week or two, but nothing like usual! I string-trimmed some tall grasses and see there is now a small gopher mound. First sign I've seen of them on our place all year. Is much drier, so likely taking advantage of all the newly-dried real estate??

I had it explained to me a few years back by a wise, old trapper (who used to get some of the coyotes here), that everything goes in a cycle. He said it seems to be on about a 7-year cycle, at least around here. Every 7 years or so, there will be an abundance of predators and prey populations will dwindle. In other areas, there are less predators due to less prey, so the prey end up thriving. The wildlife is always on the move -- just very slowly.

Have seen many more hawks this year also, but few eagles or owls. Oh, and can't forget the wolves. Also, haven't had bear problems for some time now. Saw a cub on the road a month or two back, just across the road from us. Haven't been hearing elk the past 2 or 3 years either, and we usually hear them now and then throughout the non-winter months.
 

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