The Newest Groundhog

Yes, that is really a groundhog in our mulberry tree. Apparently, groundhogs are really related to squirrels. Who knew?

The Stantons have a rich and storied history with groundhogs.

In September, 1998, I moved back here from Las Vegas, Nevada to be with Jimmy and start our lives together. After 11 years of desert living, where winter lasts about 2-4 weeks and then it gets warm-warmer-HOT, I was completely in love with experiencing Autumn again.

We especially enjoyed watching the roly-poly groundhog, as he lumbered around our yard stuffing himself with acorns in preparation for a long winter’s nap. We were temporarily dog-less, as my girls were still in Las Vegas with my parents for a few months until I got all settled in back here.

So Mr. Groundhog had free rein; he came and went, and we enjoyed watching him come and go, his increasingly rotund body going about his business. He was so cute!

And then he moved in under our front porch.

Our front porch sank several inches on one side as his tunnels got larger. And our basement began to leak when it rained.

Concerned, I called my friend’s dad, who worked for the conservation department at the time, and asked him what to do.

Always a man with a sense of humor, Hollis replied, “Oh, just wait a few weeks, he’ll go to sleep and you’ll never know he’s there.” There’s a comedian in every crowd, isn’t there? LOL

One Saturday I came home after being gone most of the morning. A house full of smoke greeted me when I opened the door.

“What happened?” I was horrified as I looked at Jimmy sitting on the couch.

He was green.

“I was trying to flush out the groundhog, so I put two mole smokers into his tunnels under the porch. I feel sick,” he said weakly.

Fortunately, as soon as I opened windows and the air cleared, Jimmy’s complexion returned to its normal color.

And apparently, it was enough for Mr. Groundhog too, because he moved out from underneath the front porch. We assumed he’d gone back into the forest and found somewhere else to live.

But you know what happens when you assume things….