Monday, April 20, 2009

The weather has been gorgeous. It's the type of weather that inspires you to go outside and start working on the garden.

And as I was looking over my backyard, I realized it's certainly time to start cleaning up. The old dried vegetation from last fall needs to be pulled or trimmed. New bushes and flowers need to be planted. Perennials needs to be split.

And the ducks taking over our swimming pool are telling me that it's time to think about draining that pool cover.

The water is deep enough for them to go deep sea diving for god-knows-what that's been growing in the pool cover since last October. (And I'm sure that the ducks have been contributing to the flora and fauna by....well... you know what they do.)

Yes, the ducks look happy and they're probably investigating potential nesting areas near this wonderful new habitat they've discovered.

As I'm watching them, all of a sudden I see a face looking up at me from under the pool cover!

WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!

I've never seen anything like that before! It looks like it might be the size of a rottweiler! And how long has it been there??!!! And why is it looking at the ducks with possible evil intensions??!!

As quickly as I spied it, it quickly hid out of sight. And over the next several hours I kept a lookout, trying to see it again.

Finally it peered out a bit more and I got a better shot of it:

What the.....???

Then, it ventured all the way out:

This has got to be a....groundhog???!!! And it's FREAKIN' ENORMOUS!!! Probably about the size of a baby hippopotamus.

I'm guessing the groundhog's been hibernating here all winter! After it got scared by it's shadow on February 2nd, it went back under my pool cover and didn't come out till the weather turned warmer. Which is now.

Grrrrr. I'm taking this as personally as the grounds' keeper in Caddy Shack. It's definitely going to be me against the groundhog.

I go and get a screwdriver to unscrew the metal covering around the pool and see what foul things have been happening underneath over the winter.

Just as I go to open the cover, it suddenly dawns on me that the groundhog might have a nest and THERE MAY BE BABY GROUNDHOGS!

I might be brave enough to try to chase an animal the size of a Hummer H2 out of my pool, but I'm certainly not brave enough to face a mom and her babies.

It's time to call in the pros.

Animal control is coming tomorrow to trap the little varmint and take him or her far, far away.

I'll give you an update on what happens.






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11 Comments:

  1. audreyscountrycrafts said...
    That is too funny!! Love the ducks, the ground hog is kinda cute too! Are you sure you don't want to keep them?
    hollyzhobby said...
    Wow, that's amazing. We've had ducks and frogs and the occasional mouse swimming around in our pool, but never a groundhog. He's so cute.
    Teri Martin said...
    That is a really big groundhog. I can believe it has been living in your pool.
    SleightGirl said...
    I could never keep a pool nice where you live...I'd think "awww the cute ducks and aww the cute groundhog...I don't need to swim because you guys are so cute!".

    All we get in pools out here are tons of leaves...I'm good at taking over the pool from leaves.
    Krystal said...
    Looks a little like a beaver too....
    Contrariwise said...
    I know! For a second I thought he was a beaver!

    BTW, He's not actually in the water. He's in a dry pocket next to the pool where the pool cover rolls up when the pool is open.
    Contrariwise said...
    SleightGirl,

    Last year we had a mommy duck and 10 little fuzzy duckling swimming in the pool.

    The little babies were too small to hop out of the pool, so I had to help them by catching them with my pool net.

    It was fun.
    Wear Your Wild said...
    That is SO funny! That groundhog can devour a garden in no time. I love the photos.
    Tessa said...
    Wow that's a plump little guy! What a surprise hehe.
    The Great Ethan Allen said...
    that Poor groundhog! Here he is wanting to get close to you to better understand humans and you sic animal control after him! You big MEANIE! The pictures are soo cute! and hopefully there are no babies. Animal control shoudl handle the situation easy, groundhogs aren't really known for their bite ( though they can) but AVOID THOSE CLAWS! ( sharp claws for digging also give big scratches!) How do I know, grew up on a farm! Of coarse! I even caught one by hand for my wife! ( she was impressed, but refused to keep it) I can't wait to read more!
    Anonymous said...
    I have 4 baby ones and 1 mom under my shed, my wife feeds them cerial carrots and apples, they love it. Its like an all you can eat restaurant. I told her to stop but thats not going to happen. We dont have any garden but my neibors do.oh well.

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