At Home with Groundhogs

 

by Pa Rock

Farmer in Summer

One thing that I did not intend to accomplish during my retirement years was to become a groundhog expert, but somehow that seems to be happening.  Over the eight years that I have been retired in the Missouri Ozarks, I have brought several types of creatures out to The Roost - mostly poultry - and today only one of those feathered friends remains - a lonely old guinea fowl that I have named "Uncle," and who dutifully follows me around the big yard anytime that I am outside.

But there have also been quite an assortment of other creatures who have wandered on and off of the property during those same eight years.  There are numerous trees including some like hickory, walnut, and oak that produce nuts that attract a plentitude of squirrels and give them plenty of places to climb and play.  The pond has bullfrogs and it also draws in a steady stream of deer who congregate there in the early mornings and late evenings to enjoy a cool drink and exchange deer gossip.

One summer a young armadillo found his way to The Roost and spent several months punching holes in the ground with his snout in search of grubs and worms.  Over the years I have also come face to face with skunks, possums, turtles, rats, mice, voles, rabbits, hawks, lizards, and several varieties of snakes.  I have never encountered a coyote on the property, but they are close by and in the evenings I can sometimes hear them chattering and howling as they try to lure or scare their prey out into the open.  

But through it all, my favorite wildlife guests at The Roost have been groundhogs.  One day recently I stepped out the back door and spotted four of the creatures sunning themselves and chewing at vegetation in the backyard.  Their tunnels are everywhere, including even under the dirt floor in the barn.  Some people would regard them as a nuisance, but to me they are just neighbors trying to survive the summer, and when winter comes we will all part company go into hibernation mode.

I have a place where I throw out table scraps, and the groundhogs are always quick to check it out, and every morning is set out some hen scratch for Uncle, and as soon as he does a pass through it, the groundhogs  and their cousins, the squirrels, show up and finish it off.  We all get along.

Yesterday I learned something new about groundhogs.  The Missouri Department of Conservation publishes a magazine for children called "Xplore" which I subscribe to and then share with my grandchildren.   Groundhogs are rodents, an order of mammals (the largest order of mammals) that includes creatures like squirrels, mice, moles, voles, hamsters, and several other related creatures.  I always assumed they were called "ground" hogs because of their tendency to be found either on or under the ground, but the edition of "Xplore" that I received yesterday said that the very large rodents could also occasionally be found in trees - like their cousins, the squirrels.

Groundhogs in trees?  Impossible, I thought!  Why the ones on my acreage can barely waddle out of the way when they see me coming!

And mine probably don't climb trees just because I make life too easy for them by slinging food around, but, according to the brief mention in the magazine, a hungry groundhog will climb a tree to get at good things like persimmons and pawpaws.

(I do have a small pawpaw patch and this year's crops has been very sparse, a fact that I blamed on the drought.   But perhaps one of the younger and more agile groundhogs has been up shaking a few limbs!)

Maybe if I can find a few persimmons this fall I can save the seeds and plant some persimmon trees in the spring.

Neighbors helping neighbors - that's what it's all about!