Why aren't groundhogs found around homes in cities, the way racoons are?

They tend to do a lot of browsing in grassy areas, occasionally you can find populations in larger parks in cities.

They tend to be quite shy. Racoons are aggressive.

I’ve seen them in my apple orchard but never around my house. Racoons go everywhere. They tear up the bird feeders, remove and play with the lights around my pond, open containers of fish food if forget and leave them outside. I’ve even had a racoon open at least a dozen metal cans of cat food I had stored in the barn back when we had cats.
The only damage I’ve seen from groundhogs are the burrows and mounds of dirt they leave behind. Not a big deal – as long as I don’t step in one and twist my ankle.

I have a groundhog that lives under my deck. He is a quiet, unassuming fellow who is gone (to work, I assume) during the day, and comes back in the afternoon.
I like him. He’s cute.

@canidmajor I have to look.

@Patty_Melt yes very shy and there is no damage to the foliage wherever they are burrowing.
@LuckyGuy “open at least a dozen metal cans of cat food”? That reminds me of octopus
Clever octopus google
https://tinyurl.com/y73odue4

I don’t belive I’ve ever seen a ground hog, ever.

Maybe it’s just where you live. We have them everywhere.

I’ll google.

Groundhogs are woodchucks. It’s probably a regional thing. If you have woodchucks, you have groundhogs.

Map shows they are in eastern Kansas but not west or southern central where I am. Theyre mainly East and north.
Seems like all of Kansas would be a good habitat for them.

I’m guessing the Gopher Blaster is popular in your area. That cleared them out.

LOL! I know we have moles! They’re pretty destructive. But no gophers. I doubt anyone cleared them out. This just isn’t in their range at this time.
We never used to have armadillos. I never saw an armadillo until about 10 years ago. Since then I’ve gradually seen more and more. They just keep making their way up from Texas. Now you can’t drive down the highway without seeing at least one dead one, hit by a car, often more than that.