PORCHLIGHT: the groundhog saga

Porch Light

Stories that Shine a Light on Life

the saga of the groundhog

peaches, which fell to the ground as hollow shells.

This year an entirely new nemeses emerged-the Groundhog. At first, we knew the stranger only as a mysterious presence that, unobserved, ate the flowers of Groundhog Scoping Out Prospects at Ferry Farm every squash plant before they had a chance to produce At a time when people are longing for some element of normalcy and consistency, I am pleased to report there is one thing that has never changed in our household: My husband's annual quest to protect the fruits of his gardening efforts fruit. We identified the villain one day when we walked by a neighbor's house a few doors down. Upon seeing her in her yard, we started up a conversation, asking how she was coping with the unique athome weeks we were experiencing. from opportunist plant-eating creatures. But our neighbor didn't have a When most folks think of gardening equipment, images of shovels, spades, and rakes may come to mind. But my husband's tools also include a plethora of innovative gadgets and contraptions that he invents to defeat the enemy in a yearly contest with neighborhood critters who lie in wait to get to the harvest before we do. lot of time for chit-chat. She was on a mission, patrolling her environs and searching for the culprit who was digging holes around her lawn and under her house and raiding her garden. She had tracked down the unwelcomed interloper and identified him as a Groundhog. She truly had a sense of mission--not only to protect her yard and house , but also to carry on the legacy of her husband, who In past years, the bandits have been a bevy of bold squirrels who engage with my husband in competition for the fruit from our lone peach tree. One year, had dutifully defended his premiere garden each year from a herd of deer who passed word around that there was a "country buffet" in the 'Hood. this battle escalated to the point where he surrounded the trunk with the barrier of a huge cardboard billboard-which seemed to accomplish its mission of making the tree squirrel-proof. But the victory would be brief. The tree succumbed to a swarm of neighborhood honey bees that feasted on each and every one of the ripened My husband shared his experience of the garden raids, and our neighbor confirmed that the culprit must be one and the same. She equipped my husband with a large animal trap and advised that we should release it far from the neighborhood if the trapping

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endeavor was successful. That evening, my husband Googled to find the best bait to use and found a list that included fresh carrots, lettuce, and tomatoes. (I made an unwelcome comment in an attempt to add a touch of humor to the situation, asking if it also included a white linen tablecloth, noting that I thought the menu had been posted online by the groundhog.)

by collette caprara

The trap sat dutifully at the edge of the garden for days but to no avail---and emerging plants, once again, disappeared during the night. As an added protective measure, my husband went through the house, collecting baby gates and pet screens that we had accumulated through the years, as well as a variety of tarps and flattened cardboard boxes. If the sight of a ravaged garden was an eyesore, it was dwarfed by the image of the giant fence of junk that was created.

Then one day as we sat on our screened porch, we caught sight of the critter munching on the leaves of flowers in our back garden. My husband went down the steps and confirmed that the interloper was the gluttonous groundhog. But that was the moment that the "enemy" disappeared for good-not because he fled to the ravine below, but because he was so cute, and chubby, clumsy, and winsome that he changed our hearts. My husband proclaimed that, like us, he needed food, and that our garden's bounty should be shared. In following days, when we saw our new friend scamper by, we called out a little hello. The disappearance of the villain was accomplished not by the elimination of the little creature, but by our change in perspective.

Collette Caprara is a local writer and artist. Photos are from I Dig George by Noelle Chason Hall, illustrated by Collette Caprara