now we know why charlie was so fat

[sissy]

plus these days they have modern ways and use a vacuum cleaner .More speed less wind shear

 

[addy1]

Addy what are you calling JW?????

roflmao, groundHOG! lol not jw

Charlette is a good plant groomer...........I have just a few little new plants that I watch so far she has not touched them.

 

[addy1]

Of the two, one is a lot braver, it likes to explore the deck

This cracked me up, it sat up like groundhogs do to look around, almost falls over

 

[addy1]

Oh My! She had four, well that is the count as of a few moments ago!

 

[pecan]

This is the funniest and cutest thread I have ever seen

You all should go on the road LOL

Addy, I love the babies! So cute the little one tilting ever so slowly backwards like he was going to pass out drunk LOL.

BTW, Sissy you have a drinking problem that I can solve. I will be right over to "dispose" of all that booze. :helm2:

 

[CountryEscape]

Oh my goodness those kids are adorable! I would be just like you, sharing my deck with them. Funny how Mom comes up to your house and eats your flowers and plants, but not so much that she kills them. You better not finish that part of the deck for a while, looks like that is their favorite place to go up and down from safety to the big open world! Funny that they would not eat the dog food. That means mom is feeding them well so far! Thanks for sharing the thread. I'll follow it now to see the progress of the kids.

 

[j.w]

Wow now there are 4 of those cuties! Wonder if they will all stay at your place or if only mama will after the babies grow and go off on there own?

 

[fishin4cars]

That is sooo cool! we saw our first one on the trip to Charlotte, Actually saw them in Winston Salem on ourv road trip day. I sat there for about 30 minutes and got one peek shot. there were three in total but only pic I got was a nose of one of the bigger ones. I wondered how tame and also how destructive they could be. They were so cute to watch and having a whole family to watch has got to be infactuating.

 

[fishin4cars]

Need to call the one on the right speedy. one second he's there and the next it's gone! LOL

 

[addy1]

lol Larkin, one has consistently come up, sits and looks over the deck, just recently, the same one, I think, is now exploring the rest of the deck. The other three are a lot more timid, one hardly comes up before it goes down again.

From what I read, jw, they are solitary critters, so the babies will move on. The only time you have more than one in a home is baby time.

We are leaving that part of the deck unfinished for now, (it has been unfinished since last summer, not my project ow done lol) I was concerned they would eat all to the ground, but they prefer weeds, just nibble a little, a leaf or two and move on, so no concern for the plants. The rabbits do more damage then the groundhogs.

 

[HARO]

Woodchucks, or if you prefer, groundhogs, were a real nuisance here in the 50's to the mid-70's. I've known horses as well as cattle that had to be put down after breaking a leg when they stepped in a chuck-hole. I've taken a header off a hay wagon when one wheel suddenly dropped two feet into a burrow. And a local strawberry grower hired me one summer to shoot chucks around his berry fields. They totally stripped the berries off any plants around the edges of the fields and maybe 15' in. A major loss to a small farmer! Coyotes showed up in the late 70's, and I've only seen one woodchuck in the last 25 years.
John

 

[CountryEscape]

Same thing around here, Haro. When I was a child in the 70's, I had my first horse, could not run across an open field without first checking it over carefully and knowing where all the groundhog holes were. Since I moved to where I live now (about 100 miles north), I have seen a total of maybe 3 groundhogs. Lots of coyotes, though, although don't see very many of them either these days. Hunters where I live now hunt them in the winter and foxes, too. Ticks me off to no end, they hunt them in trucks, and then shoot at them while they are running. The fields around me are flat farm fields, and it's not fair for the game to be hunted by truck, and then they chase them across the frozen fields, too. Last time, saw the hunters literally shooting at the coyote as it ran between the two trucks! That's what I was hoping one of the hunters would get shot. The coyote got away, and I cheered! I was watching with my binoculars, as they were over a mile away. Just not challenge to the hunters when they are in trucks. Not legal, either. :-(

 

[addy1]

Found this interesting:

What are groundhogs dens like?

We have winter dens and summer dens. Our winter dens are usually built in dry, wooded areas. They are several feet deep, and are used for hibernation. Summer dens are built near grassy areas where food is plentiful. They are usually 2-4 feet deep. If possible, we build our summer dens under barns, sheds and other structures. This offers us protection from predators. Our burrows typically have two entrances or more-- one main entrance and a peep hole (or escape route). Inside, there are separate dens for sleeping/nursing and potty facilities. We are very clean animals and we keep our dens clean. In fact, we carpet them with leaves, and we wipe our feet before entering!

When are groundhogs cubs born? What do they look like?

Breeding occurs in the Spring (usually in April) and cubs are born approximately 1 month later (usually in May). Cubs are born without fur and are blind. They weigh about an ounce (30 grams) and measure about 4.25 inches (10 cm) long. It takes about two weeks for them to have fur, and four weeks before they can open their eyes. At five weeks, they are running around. The mother will nurse them for about 6 weeks. When they are able to eat on their own, she will move each one away from the home den to a separate den and leave it. However, she will visit each one daily for a few weeks to check on it.


The sun bathing queen or king

There has got to be something good to eat

exploring

 

[addy1]

Checking out the deck plants

Mom skipping the good plants eating weeds from the bird seed growing

 

[j.w]

Ohhhhhhhhh, I don't want them to leave! Addy can't you sneak and follow them to the new dens the mom has made for them and set up camera's there too? Wonder how far she takes them away from their birth den. Wonder if any try to follow her back? Well maybe she will raise a family in the same spot each year under your house and we can see them again. Guess you can't cover up the entrance under there ever. You have so many neat photos of them!