The Face of Pure Evil

That’s right . . . this is the face of pure evil if you’re a gardener.  It loves to dig holes and eat leafy vegetables, and will strip your garden in a day, destroying weeks and months of your hard labor.  It’s a Groundhog, also known as a Woodchuck.

Yes, the same Woodchuck as in “How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?”  (Did you know that’s just as difficult to type out on a computer keyboard as it is to say it?)  I’ve read that the name “Woodchuck” may have come from an old Algonquian Indian name for the animal, “Wuchak.”

Groundhogs are about 12-15” long, not including their tail.  They like to hang out in open country near wooded areas, and live underground in burrows.  Groundhogs will dig their own burrow, or move into an unoccupied borrow, and they particularly like to live under my shed, and under my deck.  In early April when it still cold, I’ve even seen a Groundhog stretch himself out flat on his belly on my deck and sun himself to get warm.  Apparently my deck is like a Groundhog resort or something.

Wherever they live, they like to have multiple entrances to ensure they can escape from predators.  They will occasionally climb trees to escape a predator or to have a look around.  Groundhogs are very wary animals, and they will run for cover at the first sight of a human.

Around my house and garden, they are very much Public Enemy Number One.

Labels: Home and Garden