Yikes. Thanks, gumby & marial. But why does he just eat a broccoli or cabbage plant a day and then leave? I thought these guys wreaked havoc. And why hasn't he attacked my lettuce plants? Is this a very finicky groundhog? How can I bait the trap when he seems to have found just what he wants in the garden? Should I look out for him during the early morning to make sure that's what I've got? If they can climb up and down fences, there doesn't seem to be much chance of keeping him out (except traps)!

The flower buds were far enough away from the plant that it looked like something bigger must have done it. Actually it may be better for the plants that they won't be allowed to flower. I grew them in pots last year and just got them into the bog this spring so they'll have some time to get established this year. One of my flava was blooming when I planted it out so I at least have that. I put one-foot square sections of a kind of plastic mesh around each of the plants so the squirrels will have more difficulty uprooting the plants (maybe). A lot of holes have been dug in the non-mesh areas. So pepper has worked for you? I might try that. Bob

The lil devil came back today, and hung out for awhile. He came about 5 feet from the house so I opened the door real slow and got these pics. What a chubby lil thing.

We try to peacefully coexist with all the wildlife on our place, although certain things get shot---venomous snakes if they are in the yard/garden area or in the vicinity of the poultry coops, skunks if they are out in daylight hours, bobcats or coyotes if they are preying on our animals (I'd rather just chase them off and that's all we normally do, but if they keep coming back daily, we eventually shoot at them---the first shot goes into the ground as a warning shot. If they come back again, they get shot.) Pretty much everything else is just ignored and, in fact, in drought years when the ponds and creeks dry up, I fill up animal waterers for all the wildlife and also feed them what I can. We ignore the squirrels as they don't mess with the garden much. Generally they'll irritate a dog or cat enough to get chased out of the yard, and they rarely bother climbing the 8' tall fence to get into the veggie garden. I do chase them out of peach trees if I see them sitting in the tree eating a peach. When we moved here, we had wildlife from day one. Little coons would climb up on the porch furniture, look in the windows at us and knock on the window begging for food. (I suspect somebody around us must have been feeding them.) Possums, armadillos, deer, foxes, rabbits, etc. were everywhere and I thought we had a lot of wildlife. Then, a nearby neighbor hired someone the next year or maybe two years after we moved here to use heavy equipment to clear most of the trees off maybe 100-120 acres. Guess where all the wildlife fled to? At that point, we had a whole lot of wildlife. Then, the Chickasaw Indian Nation built the WinStar Casino a few miles downriver from us in the Thackerville area. It seems like all the wildlife left that land (obviously) and traveled west up the river bottoms. We had even more wildlife. We still try to peacefully coexist as much as possible. In drought years, it is ridiculous. Even the deer stand in the driveway, stare at the back door and scream (I don't know what else to call the cry they make) at me to come feed them. I try to feed them every night, but sometimes they get too friendly and start walking towards me and getting too close, and I flee back indoors, knowing a wild animal cannot be trusted to come too close. So, while the garden spots are protected with 8' high fencing, the landscaping is not. Over the years, I haven't replaced whatever the wildlife eats with like plants. Instead, I cross those plants off my list since they are the equivalent of Deer Chow, and I plant natives that we already have here on our property. I figure if they aren't eating the existing native plants, they shouldn't eat the identical types of native plants after we plant them. In 2011, we weren't home much as we were out at fires day and night, but I always had water out (and usually food) for the deer. Sometimes I could look out the window, and see, for example, bunnies, armadillos, possums, coons and deer clustered around a waterer drinking together. Wild birds came and went and took their share of the water. It was the most incredible sight---the kind of thing that makes you stop in your tracks and stare. I couldn't let them catch me staring at them, or they'd slip away. Most animals instinctively know we are their predators (if we so choose to deal with them that way) and if we stare at them, they perceive that we are a threat. We jokingly call our place The Peaceable Kingdom because of the way the wild things tolerate one another's presence when all they're trying to do is to drink some water during drought and survive. What ruins it all is when bobcats and coyotes show up wanting to prey on the other visitors. Then, I must empty the waterer for a few days to make the crowds of visiting animals drop off so the predators will move on. It is a complicated process at times. Most years there's plenty of food and water for everyone, but in a drought year, the animals become increasingly desperate. Desperate wild animals can become dangerous. I always keep that in mind while filling up waterers and feeders. I never let my guard down and never assume the wildlife will not come too close. My favorite garden animal is the turtle. Provided they are large enough to climb up into the raised beds, they'll eat bugs all day long, especially potato bugs. Unfortunately, they'll take big bites out of low-hanging tomatoes. I put up with them in the garden anyway because watching a turtle slowly prowl its way through the potato bed looking for CPBs is more fun than hand-picking and drowning the beetles. I have a bunch of overwintering lady bugs in my house, despite my best efforts to keep them out. When they get thirsty, they come sit on the end table or nightstand beside my bottle of water or tea. I put a droplet or two of water or tea on the table for them, and they sit there and drink it. It is pretty cool to watch. Last night, after the thirsty lady bug drank all it wanted (Diet Lipton green tea appears very popular with overwintering lady bugs), I sat and watched it as it appeared to clean its face the way a cat does. I was astonished. Sometimes, all the wild critters want is a chance to live and to survive. I try to help them do that. Since the weather has been warm, I've been helping the overwintering lady bugs find their way out of the house as much as possible, but I really don't mind seeing one here or there in the house. I have let them overwinter in the mudroom forever, dating back to when it was just a screened-in porch. I suspect they're sneaking into the house when pets or animals are coming and going from the mudroom into the house or vice versa. In drought years, wildlife flock to whatever areas still are green or have a moisture source, whether it is animal waterers, a pond, creek or spring with water in it, a food source (livestock feeders, compost piles, gardens, etc.). I try to keep their presence in perspective and accept it as a necessary step in their survival of tough conditions. The wild things were here on this land long before us. They'll be here after we're gone. Dawn