Groundhog!

     Very disturbing.  As much as I like Punxsutawney Phil and Groundhog Day as well as the movie, I don't like to see a groundhog in my yard.  Yesterday as I was pulling in to the lane, I spied a very fat groundhog out by the old barn foundation.  It looked to me to be a pregnant female. 

     A groundhog, especially one that takes the kids out for breakfast lunch and supper, can devastate a garden in no time flat.  We had this problem two years ago.  My old dog, who died a couple of years ago, couldn't tolerate the sight of a groundhog.  He also liked to eat them.  The dog I have now doesn't usually go after them, but last year she did manage to take one out.  She doesn't eat them, however.  On the other hand, I have heard that a groundhog skin makes a good banjo head.  Maybe the next one she gets will end up on my banjo.

     We have trapped them in live cages and relocated the critters.  I'm going to set the live trap.  This coming year the price of food, on account of the price of gas, is sure to go sky high.  The yield from the garden will be very important to us and I'll be darned if I'm going to feed it to a groundhog.

     Mind you, I have no problem with Punxsutawney Phil.  He lives a couple hundred miles from our garden and is well fed by the people of Punxsy.  It's the rest of his ill bred kin that I don't much care for.