Tag Archives: woodchucks

Miscellaneous drivel.

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As you know, our cat Lord Dudley Mountcatten is spoiled. He is not however, ill mannered.. and never tries to jump on the dining room table during meals. But for those of you who have misbehaving felines? I offer a solution:

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You’re welcome.

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What do you do when a friend recommends a fabulous blueberry vodka but you have no space on your man cave bar shelves?

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You pack them a little tighter and hope the shelves are up for the extra weight.

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We seem to be down to three baby woodchucks from seven. I prefer to think this is a result of momma chuck kicking a few of the kids out of the den and not the result of predation. But this little guy?

He’s still trying to move in with us.

🙂

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Misc. wildlife.

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All kinds of critters are showing up for the evening buffet at Casa River.

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Some of them a tad more odiferous than others.

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I wish it was still legal in Maine to de-scent a skunk and have one for a pet. A friend of mine did that back in the day and the little fluff ball was wonderful. Affectionate, playful and litter box trained. More than I can say for some of my friend’s husbands now that I think about it.

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Baby chucks are always the first to pounce. Carrots, apples, lettuce, melon and blueberries? Love them.

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Spinach, celery and strawberries? Won’t touch them.

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We have one young lone deer showing up for grain a few times a week.

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We probably won’t see the herd back until fall.

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In which his Lordship searches for woodchucks.

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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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Waking up to a horror.

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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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