Thursday, July 09, 2009

Critters. Darn critters.

I was dragging the hose out toward the garden one warm and dry day when I saw movement behind the tomatoes and beans. Quick movement for an obviously large creature, it was followed by a "bang, bang" as the large furry thing crashed against the chicken wire that surrounds my vegetable plot. The wire fencing gave, then bounced back as the larger-than expected animal threw itself against the wall again and again.

Rabbit? Nope. It was one of these.



Yes, the common and destructive garden woodchuck. This one wasn't chucking wood. I think I actually interrupted its naptime and caused a bit of panic; they're usually more nocturnal critters that come out at dusk.

You're dying to know how I reacted, right? I let out an OMG screech to the tune of "How did you get in there??!!" and then ran in the house to grab La Petite and a camera. By the time we got out there, it had scratched enough of a hole to slide under the fence and escape. I'm glad it got out, despite my lack of Candid Camera documentation. Those teeth were big!

My next challenge is this: shore up the fencing. I think it got in when I forgot to close the gate overnight. Now it's time to make sure I close the gate (yeah, yeah, yeah) and make sure this enormous rodent (bigger than my bunny Buttercup!!) never finds an entrance again. Begone, Furball!!

The real ones are not this cute, believe me.


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3 Comments:

Blogger Earth Muffin said...

Oh my goodness! That would have freaked me out! And then I also would have gone running for the camera.

Now maybe you'll be able to answer that age-old question, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?"

And on a side-note: my word verification is "wines". I think it's trying to tell me something...if only it wasn't so cryptic!

7/09/2009 9:42 AM  
Blogger Lisa said...

How funny! I grew up in the country so we had lots of wild animals around our house but never a woodchuck.

7/09/2009 12:39 PM  
Blogger TC said...

I see you prefer the live trap option of ridding your garden of those fat furry whistle pigs. I however, admit to using the .22LR method. Fortunately, it's rural enough here that I have that option. So far this season, four have met their maker.

7/09/2009 1:06 PM  

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