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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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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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When I found and bought my most fabulous beer tap a while back, I ran across another one I knew I had to buy as well.
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I mean really, how could I not?
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It’s a woodchuck. Holding an apple. They could have modeled him after our yearly brood.
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Perfect for a man cave/barn whose crawl space serves as a seasonal chucker hotel.
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He now has pride of place on an overturned shot glass in between the giant bullet and my freaky cocktail stirrers.
Life is good.
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Our resident mallard is really into his food.
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And yes, I meant that literally.
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The rival males still show up now and then.
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But our female has made her choice and they end up wandering around aimlessly…. as single men are apt to do.
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Standoffs with the woodchuck are still a thing.
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And the male mallard is showing some battle scars on his breast.
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But this day they were victorious…. and took a load off next to the spoils.
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Disturbing duck facts added for dramatic ending.
You’re welcome.
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The bowl of deer grain is popular, with everyone but the deer for whom it is intended.
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Our resident woodchuck, (named Chuck because we’re creative that way) loves it…
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But so do our new friends the ducks.
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It’s first come first serve at Casa River, and no matter how much posturing and maneuvering the waterfowl did…
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Chuck reigned supreme.
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And even barked at them when they got too close. I’ve been known to do the same around my margaritas, so I don’t judge.
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Because it’s time to clear out the photo files again.
Momma chuck has been packing on the pounds with an eye toward winter..
But it doesn’t stop her from scrambling up and over the rock wall quicker than I can move my shutter finger.
I have a feeling at least one of her two remaining offspring will be sticking around when the snow flies.
I keep catching him rooting around under the daylilies, filling his mouth with dead leaves and making off for parts unknown with nesting material.
Last year’s fawn comes every night, and since his new antlers are decidedly unbranched, I’ve taken to calling him the antenna buck. Because I’m old… and remember when you had to wiggle those things every afternoon to watch Dark Shadows.
Though these next two pics were at the outermost limit of my zoom, I’m including them because we rarely see momma turkey and her young.
She raises them in the woods and neighboring meadows, never crossing our large expanse of open lawn.
And finally, a few Bambi shots.
Because they’re so damned sweet, I can’t help it.
It’s a large thing.
And I have no idea how the thing got here.
I didn’t plant the thing, but maybe a woodchuck did.
The thing has started to lean…
And bloom.
Does anyone know what this thing is?
But there’s a woodchuck right behind you.
The deer was oblivious for quite a while.
But when she finally did realize it….
The interspecies communication did not go well.
Chuck – 1.
Deer – 0.
They’re baaaaaaack.
Well, at least the babies are.
And they’re making themselves right at home on the deck.
A little too much at home for my liking.
Because they’re trying to get back into the hole they all came tumbling out of last month.
Cute? Yes.
Respectful house guests? No.
And then the other day, a friend helped me out.
No, it’s not the same picture.
Look in the lower right hand corner….
Baby woodchuck is finally earning his keep.
Well done sir.
Carry on.
I don’t care how cute you are….
You can’t come in!
Well… maybe if the husband wasn’t home.
River's world..... 