February 2nd is Groundhog Day, perhaps one of the most absurd "holidays" of the year. While I could care less about what Phil thinks of the weather, today is a good day to learn a little bit about groundhogs and to remember a close encounter we once had on our deck.
Groundhogs or woodchucks are good-sized rodents. Their mountain dwelling cousins, marmots, make some frequent rounds in nature shows about the Alps. Groundhogs are herbivores and seem to do quite well living near us. I saw them somewhat regularly growing up in rural Illinois, often on the edges of fields or near the edges of wooded creeks. Groundhogs burrow and hibernate during the winter.
Not long after moving into our house, we sat out on deck, enjoying the mild warmth of spring. When a decent size brown furry thing came trotting through the neighbor's backyard. He climbed up on the deck with us. Made his way around, and then back around out via our front yard.
The view from my folding chair
Around the grill
Then off to parts unknown.
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