Critters Wreak Havoc At Cheshire Community Garden

CHESHIRE, CT — Local gardeners are asking for help with containing critters — including woodchucks, groundhogs and chipmunks — that have damaged their crops at the Community Garden at Bartlem Park. Resident Jim Mertz brought the issue to the Town Council’s attention at a recent meeting after catching a woodchuck in the act of destroying his vegetables, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

Mertz, who has been involved with the garden project since 2006, told the council at the July 9 meeting that there are problems and serious issues with woodchucks, groundhogs and chipmunks causing significant damage to many of the gardens, including his own, according to the meeting minutes. There are 29 plots at Community Garden.

Mertz said the gardeners have installed extra fencing and try to catch and release the animals. Mertz asked the council for an exemption to a town ordinance that prohibits the trapping of animals on state-and town-owned property so that heart traps could be used to relocate the animals to other areas. He noted this would not harm the animals and would allow the gardens to prosper, according to the meeting minutes.

Town Attorney Al Smith advised that the matter is subject to state regulations and that only a “licensed operator can trap these animals, i.e. Animal Control Officer or someone with a DEEP license,” according to the meeting minutes.

The Record-Journal reports the DEEP strongly discourages relocating the animals, and town officials don’t want to trap and euthanize them, so officials believe the best solution is to install fencing.

Read more at the Meriden Record-Journal here.