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Admit it. You have nothing better to do right now…
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Seeing that our yard/property is covered in flowers instead of vegetables and the pear tree, apple trees, and blueberry bushes aren’t ready to harvest yet ….
I’m going to have to go with woodchuck.
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Kidding!
( But with all the fruit I feed them, they’d probably be sweet. )
So what’s on your dinner table tonight?
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This week at the Casa River gardens…
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Pink Astible. Guaranteed woodchuck proof, they hate it.
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A new hot pink bee balm I just planted. Dark red and purple are common, this one is as bright as a peony.
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My little rose is hanging in, but not quite as full as previous years. Fertilizer is on the shopping list.
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The geraniums are wonderful this year. Our local nursery is about to have a half price sale. This could be dangerous.
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A line of Stella Doro day lilies. Smaller than other varieties but still a nice burst of color.
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You never know what combination of critters will show up at the nightly Casa River buffet.
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Last evening?
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It was a skunk and a fox.
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Happily observing Covid protocols and dining six feet apart.
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If you’re tired of woodchuck photos feel free to skip this post. I’m sure I’ll have something equally as ridiculous tomorrow.
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Can I get an awww?
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So much cuteness I can hardly stand it.
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The little guys sure do enjoy their buffet.
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As evidenced by the little junior bellies they’re beginning to sport.
🤣
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While Lord Dudley Mountcatten prefers watching squirrels and birds, the abundance of baby woodchucks scampering around the royal landscape can be perplexing. He spots them, but then they scurry into a hole.
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Usually this hole, which is really more of a tunnel dug under a burning bush after we removed a dead cedar.
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His Lordship is a patient soul and knows they’ll pop their heads up sooner or later.
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Catching them? Well that’s a whole other issue.
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After he sees one, he searches everywhere.
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Sorry buddy. I don’t think they’re in there…
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Warning- disturbing, graphic images of a dead animal ahead.
*
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Still here? Okay then…
I woke up the other morning and thought I saw something strange on the front lawn. Still in my pajamas, I asked the husband to investigate. He came back inside with a strange look and a reticence to tell me what he’d found. After much shuffling of feet and stalling.. he told me Momma woodchuck had been killed.
I couldn’t believe it. She’s a tough old lady and I literally watched her chase off a fox last year.
Much as I didn’t want to, I had to see for myself.
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Poor thing.
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Something… coyote? fisher?… had ripped it apart. But as awful as it was, I told my husband the good news. It wasn’t momma chuck.
He thought I was nuts and proceeded to deal with the corpse. He said I couldn’t possibly tell one woodchuck from another … but I knew.
And a few hours later?
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Momma chuck and her baby enjoying some leftover deer grain.
Silly man. He should never doubt my ability to identify the critters I feed.
❤️
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Baby woodchucks are starting to explore the back deck.
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And have quickly figured out it’s a nice place to sit in the sun.
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Lord Dudley Mountcatten assured me this beats watching Animal Planet on tv hands paws down.
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Baby whistle pigs are fast, and fun to watch scampering around the deck.
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His Lordship agrees .
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If you remember from a previous post, I’m highly susceptible to the dreaded brown tail moth rash. Seriously, if there’s one of those little bastards in my neighborhood, my town or even my county… it will find me and make me pay.
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Their hairs are microscopic and if you come in contact? You’ll know it within a few hours. Which is what happened to me after weeding my perennial bed the other day, even though I wore gloves and made a point to avoid brushing up against the tree.
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My knee…
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And arm a few hours after showering. I had the rash on my legs, my back, my stomach, my arms and especially my right knee. That section of flesh was positively on fire with uncontrollable itching… and by the next day?
* warning – if you’re eating while reading this, you might want to skip the next picture *
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My right knee looked like Mount Vesuvius, and not in a good way. Failing to understand why this particular body part suffered such an extreme reaction, I examined the pillow I was crouching on and sure enough… I had squished a moth to death on the right side and ground his toxic hairs deep into my epidermis.
Life has not really been worth living this week, and if you happen to have any extra rough grade sandpaper lying around… feel free to send it my way so I can rip off what’s left of my skin.
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Now that we had my longed for pallet of stones, it was time to attack the garden of weeden .
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Since the damage to my knee, I try to avoid anything that has to be done in a crouched or kneeling position but I’d put this off for two years and if pain was the price I had to pay for a new perennial bed? So be it.
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An hour and a half in, I was sore.
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Two and a half hours in I was popping Tylenol and Motrin like Jelly Bellies.
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At the end of the day my knee was creaking like the front door of a haunted house, but it was done. A 10 x 20 patch of virgin soil, ready for a stone border and planting.
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Remember the little baby woodchuck who loved our house so much he hugged the kitchen porch?
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Well now he’s moved out back to the deck.
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He happily hangs out in the sun and surveys the back lawn.
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And to show his appreciation?
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Another hug.
❤️
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River's world..... 