Woodchuck eating your garden? Here’s a Maine expert’s advice

PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • June 19, 2026

Chris Maher, a professor of biology at the University of Southern Maine, has been studying Maine woodchucks, also known as groundhogs, since 1998. She researches their social behavior with a long-term study at Gilsland Farm in Falmouth and knows their habits and preferences well. She’s also familiar with fending them off in her personal time. Here are her tips for deterring woodchucks from your property. Don’t trap the woodchuck, don’t release it elsewhere, and don’t use poison. Do modify the landscape so they’re no longer comfortable, do build a fence around your garden, and do make woodchucks think there is a predator in the area.