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The baby nibblers are on the move and my flower beds are quaking in fear.
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For that matter so is my wallet.
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I thought the head count was four, then five..
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But yesterday I think I spotted six.
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It might be a very colorless summer at Casa River.
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It was bound to happen. Momma woodchuck found a safe home under our barn and she’s going to raise all her children there from now on.
Yesterday I spotted the first baby nibbler.
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I know they eat all my flowers, but damn it. They’re so stinking cute!
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There are four children this year and they’re just starting to venture out in the open.
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As long as mom is around that is.
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My garden is doomed.
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It almost happened.
It could have happened.
I wanted it to happen.
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But sadly, it didn’t happen.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten spotted her.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten stalked her.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten tried…
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But the red squirrel menace was too quick and unfortunately still walks among us.
🥴
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Remember those $50 blueberry bushes we bought at the nursery?
Turns out they had the same ones at the grocery store for $25.
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The husband couldn’t resist.
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There are days when I prefer to soak myself in alcohol, but apples and watermelons work too.
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I passed on the meatloaf mountain. Bread and potatoes? That’s a bit much.
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Here’s the Junior chuck, just chillin’ on the deck landing.
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Probably still full from all those flowers he devoured.
😖
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Mr. Fox brought his significant other last night for a nosh.
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See the stalks by the fox on the left? Husband found some wild asparagus in the field and thought the woodchucks would eat it. Sadly, they prefer my flowers and didn’t touch it.
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We love our foxes.
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They’re such graceful, beautiful creatures.
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If only they’d develop a taste for red squirrel.
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Surely they have hungry pups who need a snack.
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😉
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Remember the perennials I bought for the stone bordered garden bed out back?
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There was a big beautiful purple and white lupine ready to go.
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They’re iconic in Maine and I’ve always loved them.
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But apparently so did the woodchucks.
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Goodbye bloom.
Goodbye leaves.
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This is what’s left of the lupine and what used to be a lovely pink phlox.
Grrr….
😡
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The husband had to move my car, set up the ladder and climb into the garage crawl space to reach the leftover vinyl siding recently.
When he got up there? A surprise.
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There was a suspicious hole in the siding box.
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And nesting material strewn around the opening.
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See all the insulation and stuffing to the left?, in between the rungs of the ladder?
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You know what means.
🐿
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Woke up this morning to this….
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On further inspection it looks like the raccoon has been washing up again.
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Though it could be a Pterodactyl, you never know.
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Lately we’ve just had the junior woodchuck visiting the backyard. He was the runt of last year’s litter and though momma chuck is famous for booting all the kids out of the den as soon as they’re grown, this little guy is still living at home.
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But momma is not pleased.
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Every time he gets near her she barks and bites and drives him off.
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Watermelon is not to be shared with deadbeat kids who live in the basement.
🤣
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The weather is getting warmer, the grass is getting greener, and Lord Dudley Mountcatten wants to go out for a walk every afternoon.
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Not to say that he actually wants to walk on the grass. No. His Lordship will do almost anything to avoid that. Nearly three acres of groomed lawn… and the wee beast sits on the concrete cover for the septic tank. WTH?
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He’s a very delicate walker.
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Hiding in the iris, hoping a bird will land nearby.
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Get lost mom. You’re blowing my cover.
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Face planting in the grass.
I have no idea, don’t ask.
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Giving the pear tree a good once over, but no attempt at climbing today.
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