Groundhog Tales

This year, I haven't sen Pat coming, nor going from under the shed. In early spring, I popped up from behind a slope & startled her in a very advanced stage of pregnancy. The groundhog was so terrified , she attempted to climb a tree! She made it a good 4 feet up, before falling & lumbering away as fast as her belly would allow. Yesterday, I spied a young one in the neighboring hillside. Whenever I walked inside, it would run under the shed, but when I came out, it felt free to graze. Too funny !

Groundhogs & "Cotton"

Every February 2nd, a cutesy, little poem gets stuck in my head, from my days as a preschool teacher. Six times today, I opened class with the little finger play. They were shocked, horrified & many were greatly amused. (And they did get quiet).
"Mr. Cotton" walks the 2 mile loop of our neighborhood, twice a day; no matter what the weather is. When the roads are so frozen I can not walk up my own driveway, the marks his ice shoes have made in the ice can be seen along the road. He discovered that I collect odd & unusual things for my students to draw. One day while I was out, he stopped & asked my husband if I would like a stuffed ground hog. "Been dead over 30 years". Tom said that he was sure I would & they set about a trick to pull on me. They placed him in the center of the carport where I was soon to arrive. As I turned to walk up, there was "Chuck", standing directly across my path!

It's Really True !!!!

Growing up, my family always told me, "If you sit still and quiet long enough, the wildlife will come out." I never found that to be true...UNTIL, I started going quiet inside...then, it happened !!! Last weekend, as I sat on the docks mid-cove, I heard a rustling in the leaves on the far bank.....

We watched each other for ages and ages until the groundhog decided that lunch was more imprtant than I was.....
















The episode finally ended when our loving huntress/herder, Juliette, awoke and decided I needed protecting......