How Much Wood Could A Woodchuck Chuck?
Woke up EARLY (still on that school schedule; a hard habit to break!) Did dishes, clothes, floors, rugs, and went to take out some garbage. By the time I got halfway down "the back 40" (as we lovingly call the back end of our long, thin, urban lot!) I could see them: three little critters frolicking near the steps to the alley. Baby Woodchucks!!! Cuuuuttttee!
I watched them for a bit; then as I stepped forward, all three 'stood up' like their squirrel cousins, front paws hanging and noses up to sniff the air. Following Mama Woodchuck's lead (we have decided to call her 'Penelope'); they scuffled off under the sauna.
I hit Wikipedia with my morning soda, and learned that woodchucks are indeed related to squirrels. Also called "marmots" and "ground hogs", they are now quite plentiful, moreso than in the frontier days. Woodchucks, ironically enough, flourish where there is a lack of forest - they are more able to burrow where humans have interfered with the natural cover of wood. "Benign nuisance", one reference claimed.
Benign, but cute. I suppose I could be worrying about how to get rid of them, but why? Penelope was resourceful enough to find a great place to raise her family, complete with tolerant humans and a sauna that now apparently has a basement.
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