The Battle For The Garden Shed Rages On.

  Where I thought I was only dealing with one groundhog, turned out to be three, but may be down to two.  After lulling me into a false sense of security, thinking it had been Raptured or devoured, the horrid creature emerged with two babies, hungry babies, who have nor stayed babies for long.  I once again set the live trap, baited with a waffle, which my son said would not be eaten unless it had syrup on it.  Well, he was wrong.  I had trapped the mother groundhog and proceeded to call all my friends to brag about my accomplishment.  I got my camera so I could have pictures to post on Facebook, only to find the creature GONE.  A jail break had occurred.  But maybe, mom-groundhog was fed up because I have not seen her since, leaving me with two fast growing youths.  Just so you know what I am dealing with…did you know a groundhog can move 700 pounds of earth to create his 20-40 foot long , 5 foot deep burrow which has multiple chambers and  two, sometimes three entrances?  They will eat up to 8 pounds of vegetables and greens a day….two groundhogs mean 16 pounds.  They are the largest member of the squirrel family and are sometimes called whistle pigs, a name earned because of the loud whistle to alert other groundhogs of danger.  They can live for 3-6 years in the wild. 
I want to thank readers who have called or stopped by with tips.  We are trying them all from peanut butter, to chewing gum to motor oil.  But once again, I may have my hopes up.  Two mornings in a row I saw a coyote cruise through the garden area.  I never thought I would be so happy to see a dangerous carnivore trot through my back yard (my children are big enough now that they would not be easy pickings).  This creature was so silent, my two labs never even knew he was back there, and they bark at anything within a half mile of their fence.  So I am keeping my fingers crossed and all my tips handy.

And if all else fails, I have hung this picture, found in an outhouse, hoping that even the groundhog has some taste and moves out!