Rodent Proofing the Shed

Our neighborhood had a problem with groundhogs.  We caught one shortly after we moved into this house, and have been seeing another groundhog crawling under our shed numerous times over the last few months.  We don't want a family of groundhogs to take over, so we decided to make it a priority to rodent proof the shed this spring.  A little online research showed us that the best way to do that is to dig a trench along the base of the wall and install wire fencing going down about 10 inches and out about 12 inches.  Then push the dirt back in, and the pesky rodents won't be able to dig into the shed any more!  Sounds like a fun-filled day of shoveling dirt!

We bought the supplies last weekend, and recruited a couple helpers.  Our friend Jacob came this morning and spent most of the day here digging with us.  He is a great person and has often helped us out here...one of these days we need to go out to his place and help him with some projects!  My Mom also came over for a few hours and watched the kids so that I could help with the digging.  It was just warm enough outside for the kids to not be uncomfortable, so Mom and the kids walked around the yard having parades and played on the swingset for a while, then spent some time inside.  Nicolas also took at 2+ hour nap today, which also allowed me to work outside.

This is a shot from a bedroom window this morning.  See that stinkin' woodchuck just sitting there in the yard?  Inside the fence that surrounds our soon-to-be garden area?  Aaaargh!  This groundhog ran under the shed when the guys went out to start working.  We never saw it leave.  We're hoping it crawled out and ran away when we stopped for lunch.  If not, and it stayed under the shed all day, well, I suppose now it will starve to death and we will deal with the smell for a while.

It took a about 90 minutes to dig the trench on the west side.  That was a little more work, because the soil actually came all the way up to the top of the foundation on that side.  The south side of the building was less work to trench along, but as you can see, the shed actually sets a few inches off the ground.  Guess where the groundhog crawls under the shed!?

While Nicolas napped, Laurel hung out in the yard with us.  She enjoyed playing with some of the tools (we let her handle the small pliers and a small shovel), and also just enjoyed sitting in her chair and watching us work.  Note her highwater pants...she has grown 4" in the last year, and I need to go through her drawer and take out all the pants that are much too short.

While the guys were digging on the south side, I started installing the fencing on the west side.  We just nailed it on with fencing staples, and bent the wire.

Laurel helped push the dirt back into the trench.

Here's a shot of me lining up the wire on the corner.

Laurel was getting restless.

Eventually Laurel got cold and wanted to go inside, then Nicolas woke up, so I went inside with the kids and made chocolate chip cookies.  Scott took over hammer and nail duties.

Scott and Jake finished putting up the fencing and filled back in the trench while I watched the kids and made supper.  They finished a little after 5pm (we started around 10:30am).  We're glad we knocked that whole project out in one day.  However, we are going to be sore tomorrow!

You may be wondering why we didn't start earlier in the day.  It's not because we don't like getting out of bed in the morning (although that is true, Scott and I are both definitely night owls!).  We started a little later in the morning because Laurel and I got up early and had a mommy/daughter date at Hy-Vee where we had breakfast, got groceries, and visited the Easter Bunny.