slo’s FRIDAY 2/2 poll - Groundhogs

[ford family]

No, never seen a groundhog but when we had our Florida home we had a problem with an armadillo that was burrowing under the house. We had to get pest control to evict it.

ford family

 

[LoveDaisy]

We have lots of groundhogs. They are cute but vicious. I had one attack my last dog. She was not a prey dog, was getting a suntan in the backyard paying no attention to the groundhog and it attacked her. I should mention she was 150 pounds, that groundhog had no fear! Lots of stitches, ruptured eardrum and rabies shots. Poor girl. They are also terrible to my garden and eat and destroy plants. I’d be ok if they picked a different yard to hang out.

 

[CGB]

We have a neighborhood groundhog who loves my garden each year. He and I always go to war and I've won the last couple of years. Don't worry... there's plenty of options for him to eat besides my vegetables.

As far as the shadow.... after seeing last month's electric bill with that cold spell included in it.... I'm ready for spring TODAY!

 

[luvnwdwgal]

We call them woodchucks and we have them in our yard all the time. They are a nuisance! They destroy your gardens and burrow under your garages. Around here they get shot.

 

[slo]

We have lots of groundhogs. They are cute but vicious. I had one attack my last dog. She was not a prey dog, was getting a suntan in the backyard paying no attention to the groundhog and it attacked her. I should mention she was 150 pounds, that groundhog had no fear! Lots of stitches, ruptured eardrum and rabies shots. Poor girl. They are also terrible to my garden and eat and destroy plants. I’d be ok if they picked a different yard to hang out.

Oh no….,that’s so sad
Your poor dog went through a lot.

 

[design_mom]

We had one that would frequent our yard as a kid -- but I don't know where he actually lived. Similarly, we have one "in the neighborhood" now, but I don't know where his burrow is. I don't think it's in our yard. So, I have seen them relatively frequently... but I don't think I've ever had one live in my yard.

I don't really trust groundhog weather forecasting, but I am ready for an early spring. I hope Punxatawny Phil is right. (Buckeye Chuck, Ohio's weather forecasting groundhoug, made the same prediction.) However, I'm not sure how Punxatawney Phil could NOT see his shadow, what with all the floodlights everywhere!

 

[tony67]

Yeah have seen them - we have all sorts of wildlife in our neighborhood from coyotes to mice.
Could be one of the culprits that is attacking my garden.

I've also seen Punxsutawney Phil years ago when passing through the area.
Not sure if its still the same, but it was like a peep show, you put in some change and a grate goes up and you can see it for a short time.

 

[DisneyHardin]

Our neighbor had a big fat groundhog living under his deck a couple years ago. I enjoyed watching him scurry around.

 

[loves to dive]

I don't think I've seen one but may have and didn't know it. Here in Georgia it's like the wild kingdom so on any given day it's no telling what creature you are going to see. I saw there was going to be an early spring. Again, in Georgia, so spring is like maybe a week long then it's just hot. I'm good with that though, I hate cold weather and to me anything under 75 is cold.

 

[RedAngie]

I’m not sure if I saw a ground hog in the wild.

About 20 years ago I was sitting on my parents’ back deck and some furry critter ran right by my feet then disappeared into the woods. It scared the crap out of me.

It looked like it could be a groundhog, but maybe it was a woodchuck or a gopher or prairie dog.

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Growing up in NJ, we saw lots of groundhogs along the Parkway and Turnpike. We don’t really see anything like them in this part of TX, but we’re big fans of their western marmot cousins. My younger one sometimes jokes that they’re her spirit animal. While the marmots of the mountain regions are much more sociable than their eastern relatives, I don't think any of them have magical weather prediction talents. These are just a small sample of my marmot pics from the Rockies. In case you were wondering, all groundhogs are marmots, but not all marmots are groundhogs

 

[RedAngie]

As for Pux-whatever Phil, the prediction never made sense to me.

Sees his shadow, more winter. If it’s sunny, you’d think that’s a good thing, a harbinger of early spring.

Dreary, cloudy, no shadow. That sounds more like a gloomy sign of extended winter.

Yet Phil is just the opposite. What a convoluted creature.

 

[sarahann77]

Woodchucks all over here. I don't remember one living around our first house. The second we moved to when I was a teen had a hole behind the deck. Probably multiples that took over the same hole as I'm doubting it was the same one. Only a few years ago he died from being hit by the FedEx truck that backed up. Scarred my mom's cat so much she won't go outside anymore. They were buddies. There is a new one around but not in the same hole

 

[SM1992]

Yup, there's been one living under our shed off and on for 20 years or so....probably not the same one, not sure of their lifespan. They enjoy our garden way too much LOL.

 

[lovesmurfs]

Was driving my daughter to her drum and bugle corps rehearsal weekend in Iowa - saw a whole "colony" (is that the term?) of them on the hill on the side of the road. There must've been 20-30 or so. Never saw anything like it before or since.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

We have one I see all the time in our front yard. It’s cute. It waddles off whenever we open the front door. It’s pretty big.One time I saw two beavers walking side by side down the middle of my street lol. My dh didn’t believe me when I ran in and told him so I made him go look and he was like “yeah, they’re beavers. That’s weird”. We don’t really have any water around us except for a small stream in the woods behind our house so no idea where they were coming or going to. Also have lots of deer, foxes and a few coyotes around our house.

 

[Tink-osophy]

Apparently, they're called woodchucks this side of the Atlantic, but I have never seen one and don't know anything about where they might be found in Europe. ...I know more about the movie Groundhog Day!!

 

[CdnCarrie]

I don’t know
I may need to google this (what did we do before google - LOL)

Those big encyclopedia sets in the family room!

 

[slo]

Those big encyclopedia sets in the family room!

Yep….I remember people coming to the house trying to sell them. My parents had an ancient set of encyclopedias that I kinda hated having to get rid of when my mom downsized, but you can’t keep everything.

 

[RUDisney]

My parents had none in their yard when they had hawks in the neighborhood. As soon as the hawks moved on, the groundhogs came back. So many of them that I've helped my Dad trap and release them several miles from his house.

I didn't realize that they were vicious. They are quite scared when they are in a cage trap and run away when released.