A lovely ending to a fine Tuesday.
The sunshine that day was so brilliant, it encouraged the groundhogs from their burrow.
Since their first appearance early in the month, they had been rarely seen.
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Tuesday afternoon they burst out of their freshly excavated entrance.
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A rather vicious battle for the carrots ensued.
The emerging groundhog sneaked around behind the other to grab the carrot beside its left foot, carrying it off down the hole.
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Incensed, the offended went in hot pursuit, screaming insults.
Watching such battles from a window, we have an urge to intervene, as you would with small children, but wild animals must do what is natural.
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The fluffed tail indicates annoyance!
Because squirrels and chipmunks have acquired a taste for carrots, we have stopped cutting them up, hoping that the smaller animals will not be able to manage a *whole carrot.
Our other offerings are peanuts and corn which most of our visitors seem to like. The intention is to provide a little sustenance until plant life reawakens, but soon babies arrive and must be supported, after which it’s the build-up before Winter…
As we take more and more of their habitat, I feel it only fair to offer a little support in return.
*No sooner did I write this than a squirrel was seen rushing up the hill carrying an entire carrot. So much for that delusion!
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When I came to live in the country, I was surprised to see so many animals with disabilities of some kind. I always assumed that Nature eliminated animals that were not hale. No doubt their lives are shortened, yet I soon learned that many survive at least for a while.
We constantly notice injuries from fights, but we’ve also seen animals that were blind and some that had obvious neurological issues, as well as many with skin diseases.
At the end of last summer we noticed that one of “our” groundhogs was losing hair and the bald patch increased, although the exposed skin did not appear irritated. She came out looking for food long after the others had gone to ground for the winter. She looked thin and we really did not expect her to survive the cold weather.
Tuesday afternoon, there she was. Thin and half bald, but otherwise healthy-looking.
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Will her exposed skin suffer from sunburn?
How else will she be affected? It is hard to see animals in distress and be unable to help. Occasionally, you might be able to trap a creature that is sick or injured to keep it safe while it heals, or take it to a wildlife rehabilitation centre, but mostly they eventually succumb.
Nature can be hard.
We could easily have caught old Mrs Plod, the deaf/blind possum and kept her safe, but what sort of existence would she have had indoors, away from everything she knew?
She really tugged my heartstrings.
Soon after moving here, we had two distressing experiences.
The first was when a wild turkey flew into the house. The bird was mortally injured, so Grant did the merciful thing and wrung its neck. Not an easy task, but especially difficult considering the size of a turkey.
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Some months afterwards, an outbreak of rabies affected the raccoon population and Grant was obliged to dispatch some of the babies we had so enjoyed just weeks before.
It was hard for me, but much harder for him.
Part of the price of loving wild animals.
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The black squirrel has been visiting.
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Black by comparison. Close-up, she’s – brindle?
She also has a bald spot or two.
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A couple of days after all this, we had some more visitors…
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Thank you so much, Carolyn, for the wonderful photo update and for the many visitors to your diner! It is hard to see the health problems some wild animals suffer from, but we can rarely help. Thanks to your sterling work, at least no one is hungry!
Joanna
The poor bald Groundhog reminds me of the skin troubles that poor Ollie used to suffer. He would develop bald patches due to bacterial skin infections in his wrinkles, and we had to bathe them with Hibiscrub. I don’t think I could have killed baby raccoons, even knowing it was because of Rabies.
Best wishes, Pete.
Lovely wild creatures.🎊
Your groundhogs are so adorable!!
So fun to see all of your wildlife!
Thank you for sharing.
Once upon a time in the dinosaur era the family went to a working dude ranch in Colorado that backed upon Pike National Forest. A ranger stopped by, spoke to the owner and anyone interested could get on horseback to hunt prairie dogs in the park. They carried bubonic plague. Never was a hunter, but at 12 and a chance to target shoot for a reason? From horseback? I took it. ‘Coons, though? My grampa had a pet coon. Don’t think I could.
It’s like a managerie at your place! Great photos as always, Carolyn.
You have so many visitors. Beautiful!
Whole carrots, half carrots, or pieces of carrots … I think everyone is ready to eat them in any form for the next few months! It seems that surviving in nature is not an easy life, but I’m grateful to watch the wildlife while they’re there. You and Grant are so lucky to have so many visitors in your garden … thanks for sharing them with us.