Spedigrees - glad to hear your dreaded nutria rat is actually a muskrat. I've seen muskrats and otters in my pond. I know there has been some beaver activity - evidenced by the downed trees - but I have yet to actually see a beaver. I *think* I actually saw a groundhog the other day. We had one living in our brush pile last summer - he destroyed my gardens. So I'm hoping he found somewhere new to live this year.

My entire neighborhood deals with families of woodchucks all the time. It is illegal to transport them from you property to another location in MA. It appears though, that the companies that trap them can also remove them. Problem with that though, is that you may have them removed from your property, but they are still around in your neighbors. The life cycle of the groundhog is to breed, and when the fall comes, their off spring move on to dig their own dens. Usually then move to another area from where they where born. So if you remove the groundhogs from your property and your neighbors have them, then the offspring from your neighbor will be happy to move right on to your property. Not only that, but the ones that live down the street, will be happy to come and forage on your plants and gardens. Besides the damage that the groundhog does to our gardens, they can be very dangerous to property as well. They dig their tunnels underground and if tree roots get in their way, they don't burrow around them, but rather chew through the roots. The tree may look healthy above ground, but it can have barely any roots holding it. A simple gust of wind, or soaking grounds from rain, will topple the tree over without anywarning. I've seen that happen far to many times. They burrow underground under sheds and topple the shed as well. Several years ago, a neighbor had 8 groundhogs removed from their property by a company and thought they where all set. Much to their dismay, and quite an expense to having them removed, they sat and watched the neighbors groundhogs move right into their property and they where back at square 1. If it isn't the groundhogs eating, it's the chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels and new this year for the first time in 29 years, DEER. The deer have had a field day on my hostas. It's a never ending battle with the 4 legged critters. Fran

I love how Google helps with spelling. The original post was in 05 and I think their search feature was different back then. It didn't have the drop down box like it does now and since it's slang, there were different ways to spell it. "Varmint" seems to be the most common and wasn't one I tried at the time. Shirley - I don't know what you saw. Muskrats, Minks and Nutria all live around water too. Could it be one of those?

Ok! I'm tacky enough to post a recipe or two. I haven't tried these though. They come from "Cooking with the Groundhog" compiled by The Adrian Hospital Auxiliary of Punxsutawney, PA. Mind you, I don't have any gopher recipes, but I think you could substitute gopher for groundhog (you don't know how ridiculous this seems to me to type that!) Groundhog, Punxsutawney Style Cut, cleaned dressed groundhog in serving pieces. Parboil 1 hour in water to cover, with 1/2 teaspoon soda. Drain. Cover with fresh water. Add 1 teaspoon salt and black pepper to taste. Boil until tender. Drain. Roll in pancake mix. Brown in butter and shortening, mixed half & half. Groundhog (or rabbit) in tomato sauce Groundhog, cut into serving pieces Salt Pepper 1/8 teaspoon oregano 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 3-ounce can tomato paste 1 No. 2 1/2 can tomatoes 1 cup water Brown groundhog (or rabbit) in hot oil with salt, pepper, garlic and oregano. Add tomato paste, tomatoes and water. Cover. Simmer until tender about 1 hour or more. Add more water if needed.