Do groundhogs gnaw wire & insulation?

...Like a big fat mouse?
I have a wrecked car in my driveway that I need to get ready to sell for whatever I can get for it. One week ago I moved it onto the grass in front of my shop and now it won't start. After some troubleshooting & head-scratching I peeked underneath looking for the fuel pump. What I found was a chewed-through wire harness leading to the pump & fuel level sensor

I've been co-existing with this critter living under my ground-level deck for 2 years but now I'm not interested in sharing my yard with a giant rodent that eats vehicle wiring (and lord knows what else I haven't discovered yet).

Game on.

 

I would say you have two different critters. A groundhog under your deck and mice, rats or maybe squirrels that find your car tasty.

As for the groundhog under your deck. I'd get rid of him (sleep with the fishes) as soon as possible. Their burrows can undermine your foundation & footings, not to mention what they can do to your garden and landscaping.

 

I'm initially pinning it on the groundhog because of the wire height above the ground and because I saw the bugger dash out of there when I pulled into the driveway a couple days ago.

 

Dittoes to what Pilot Dane said. The grey squirrels here even chewed my plastic gas jug (started on the “G”) and the gas cap edges on a generator left on the carport.

 

I used to loose one or two plastic fuel cans a year to the squirrels until I fenced in my fuel storage. Groundhogs have never gnawed on anything other than plants. The fact that you saw the groundhog run from the wrecked car when you got home was just coincidence. He was probably hiding in the shade under the car and you scared him.

 

Rats and mice must chew to keep their teeth from becoming too long. I'm not sure if groundhogs have that problem. I'm laughing as my mind is thinking about a trap baited with some romex or other old wire. Hard to trap a ground hog as everything they like to eat is growing outside. But he must go, one way or another.

Bud

 

Hmmm...20 years ago when I moved here I never saw a squirrel despite lots of trees, including oaks. Now I see one on occasion but so far never near the house.
Lots of rabbits, though, and often within inches of the house. Do they gnaw?