What Creature Is It?

Sometimes I just have to share with you some of what goes on in my life. Right now my vegetable garden is flourishing and for several weeks we have been harvesting the early vegetables…small tomatoes are forming, corn is about three feet high and new potatoes greet our dinner table almost every night.

 

 

Along with the garden come the creatures that enjoy the warm months as well. The gold fish in our little pond made it through the cold winter and are growing by leaps and bounds. Some will even come and eat food right from my fingers. The male gold finches have shed their dull winter feathers and replaced them with bright gold. Fireflies are out and baby fawns stick close to their mothers.

 

 

All of this I see every year. But I saw something the other day that I have never seen before. My quirky dog, Luke, who likes to play with anything that moves (balls, frogs, snakes, squirrels, you name it) was frantically barking at something in the tree. I walked closer and did a double take. Was that a bear cub? It was chubby, very furry, had arms wrapped around the trunk of the tree and was holding on for dear life. I realized it was not a bear, so what was it? I got Luke in the house and watched as the creature backed down and lumbered towards its hole under the barn. Of course, as soon as I saw his head I realized it was a ground hog. That was something new for me. I never knew groundhogs could or would climb trees.

 

 

I did a quick search on the internet and discovered that “Groundhogs can easily climb trees to get away from predators.” So, if you wonder what odd thing is in your tree, you might just have a groundhog!