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| Our resident Woodchuck decided to try something new this evening, snacking on some potted violets on our back deck. |
June 1, 2022
Some of the animals that show up in our yard are undoubtedly passing through, on their way to or from some other woodsy place in town. The doe and her fawns, the rowdy group of male Wild Turkeys, the coyotes we hear at night - they wander through on their way to somewhere else and we are content to see them as they appear. With others, though, we clearly share this little patch of suburban forest, and the dean of the hyper-local inhabitants is undoubtedly our resident Woodchuck, whom we have named Woodrow. Our first summer here Woodrow made regular appearances in the backyard during the day, munching on grass and other greens, waddling cautiously from one place to another in his little fiefdom, and then the second summer he was conspicuously absent. This spring Woodrow has appeared again with some regularity, and this evening he surprised us by climbing the few steps beside the back pollinator garden onto our deck, where he dined on some potted violets. It was hard to tell if he found them very palatable, for a minute or two into his meal he stood up, turned, and galloped, in a fashion, back toward his burrow beneath the shed.
Many people who covet picture perfect lawns curse the Woodchuck, and I admit, should Woodrow turn his attention to excavation close to the house I may need to have a serious conversation with him, but as a fellow inhabitant of this land, I enjoy watching him as he goes about his daily business, ambling through the grass in search of tasty things to eat.
Copyright Daniel E. Levenson 2022
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