Bill’s been doing a lot of work outside lately. He and his dad finished the retaining wall outside our egress window and then built a two tiered wall where our garden is going behind the garage. There’s also a door on that side of the garage, which is where I figure a feisty little visitor got in when someone wasn’t looking.
Bill had heard some chattering while going into his tool box. He’d open a drawer and hear chattering. Close it, more chattering. That’s when he found this guy… wedged between the tool chest and work bench.
He tried to use a pole to shoo him out, but the little guy attacked it with his long claws. Bill at first thought it was a baby raccoon. But not seeing the typical mask, we thought it was maybe a badger, considering the attitude and long claws. But when we compared photos, it wasn’t a badger at all… no white stripes!
It turns out, the mystery animal was a groundhog AKA a woodchuck.
And we now believe it was among a group of chattering rodents running around our back yard about a month or so ago. We heard them one night around midnight, clear as day, and tried to get a better look outside with a flashlight. But they’d scatter at the light. Interesting. Didn’t know we had these around here. Just another animal to add to the wildlife menagerie in our backyard:
Deer, pheasant, wild turkey, (snakes?) groundhogs
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