Tag Archives: woodchucks

A woodchuck dump.

 

Don’t get excited, it’s a photo dump. No one wants to see the other kind.

My files are filled with woodchuck pictures.

 

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Mother and baby on the rock wall.

 

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Mother bringing Junior to the back deck.

 

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Junior checking out the back deck.

 

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Junior checking out the new grill.

 

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Two babies on the other rock wall.

 

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Two babies playing tag.

 

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Two babies eating apples.

You see how this goes? I flood you with woodchuck photos and you say awww.

 

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Here’s a woodchuck, a turkey and a duck for variety.

 

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Momma had 6 babies and I have yet to get them all in one picture.

 

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But now would probably be a good time to say awww.

 

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They’re just screwing with me now.

 

The woodchucks.

 

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Adorable, but hungry.

And there’s no rhyme or reason to what they’ll eat.

This echinacea?

 

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Stripped to a stalk the same day I planted it.

They devoured it before I could even get a picture, and if you know me? You know that’s fast.

 

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This candy cane Dianthus? Nope. They left it alone.

The exact same plant on the other side of the garden bed?

 

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A mere shadow of itself.

WTF?

So when it came time to replant the bed I had removed the woodchuck chewed mallow from, I went to the experts and got a list.

 

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A list of woodchuck proof flowers they were guaranteed not to eat.

Blanket flower? Check!

 

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Planted two, they haven’t touched them.

 

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(Please note dianthus is on the list and we all know how that turned out.)

Foxglove? Check!

 

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They literally took one bite and ran.

Good thing since it’s the source of  digitalis.

 

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Last on the list? Yarrow.

If you’ve ever had deer nibble your gardens to a nub, you know they hate yarrow.

Every critter hates yarrow…. so I planted yarrow.

 

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So…..

Yeah.

 

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The little buggers are screwing with me.

There’s no other explanation.

 

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And look at that belly…

They’re getting fat doing it!

 

 

I am not happy. Again.

 

Remember the beautiful mallow I planted this spring?

 

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They were doing so well.

 

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I’d found the perfect spot for them and was looking forward to years of  beautiful blooms.

But it won’t happen.

Because…..

 

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So I sprayed.

 

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And they ate right through it.

I sprayed again.

 

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It didn’t repel anything. Matter of fact, I think they liked it better that way.

So I sprayed a third time.

 

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You know where this is headed right? I spread red pepper flakes, I scattered moth balls… it didn’t matter.

And now?

My beautiful mallow look like this:

 

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The adorable  and quite ungrateful, I feed them apples for Christ’s sake!  little furry creatures discovered my mallow and decided to keep noshing no matter what deterrent I tried.

 

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Yes, I’m talking to you.

Apparently mallow is a tasty woodchuck treat, and they made short work of my once gorgeous plants.

They nibbled so much and so quickly, I had to dig the plants up and put them in pots on our deck.

And then….

 

 

 

Yeah.

The  I still love them but they’re trying my patience  tiny devils climbed up on the deck, tracked down the mallow and tried to munch them right in front of me.

That’s balls.

So now?

 

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My ugly ass, half dead, skinny, leafless stalks of mallow are up on the table looking ridiculous while I ply them with Miracle Grow and hope for the best.

But I am really not happy.

A Covid 19 4th of July.

 

We were invited to a few get togethers last weekend, but passed on all of them. I’m afraid I just don’t trust people well enough to gather in groups yet.

So I took a picture of my new, appropriately patriotic flowering plant….

 

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And we stayed home to mow the lawn instead.

 

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Yard work is an all day event ’round here, but it’s quite satisfying.

 

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The daylilies are popping…. and when we were through mowing and whacking and trimming we fired up the grill.

 

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And had an adult beverage while the husband stared, still enraptured by his new toy and it’s viewing window.

( Latest Seagram’s flavor review: Wild Berries – meh. Won’t be buying that one again.)

 

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After some truly marvelous steaks, husband raked grass clumps…. and while I was cleaning up the kitchen?

I looked out the window….. and took a picture through the screen which looks like a bad acid trip.

 

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( Or so I’ve been told. I have no personal experience. No. Not me. Uh uh. )

But yes.

That cute little bugger was at it again.

 

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Eating one of the flowers he’s not supposed to like to eat.

Someone needs to revise that list.

 

 

 

 

Baby barn beautification.

 

I think I forgot to post the final results of all the husband’s  he didn’t want to do it and grumbled the whole time  hard work bordering my garden bed.

 

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And while I’m not usually a huge marigold fan…..

 

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I do like the yellow and orange colors against the red barn, so I filled the bed with them and mulched.

 

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With a baby chucker watching me the entire time. Thankfully marigolds are unappetizing to wildlife….. so he sniffed and moved on.

 

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Viola.

Baby barn beautification complete.

 

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Making friends.

 

Have I mentioned how much I love the baby woodchucks?

If not, get used to it… because I’ve been spending a lot of time making friends with them.

 

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I’ve found sliced apples are a great ice breaker.

 

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And if I’m enjoying a little Crown Royal apple while making woodchuck friends… all the better.

 

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It took a while for them to get used to me and they were pretty hesitant to come out with me so close.

 

 

But the lure of apples proved too much.

 

 

 

Admit it.

That’s pretty damned cute.