Background: We have a huge GH estate in our back yard. Generally, I try the live-and-let-live approach, having illegally relocated many groundhogs only to have new families move into the vacated home. I try to plant things Mr. G. Hog likes near OUR house and away from his. He seems to like the clover that runs wild in that area. I am used to watching him munch away from my kitchen window, or even from a few yards away when I'm in the garden. I have also seen 2 baby groundhogs this spring, although when they saw me, they ran into the neighbor's yard, not into the estate in our yard, so I think there is another family next door. So, I was in the back yard a week or so ago, when one of my dogs (on a staked leash) started making noises and trying to run further into the back yard. I turned around and saw a fox and a groundhog. The groundhog was chasing the fox! Then I saw that the fox had a critter in its mouth. A baby groundhog? Then 3 small foxes came running toward the parent bearing lunch. A few minutes later, I saw ANOTHER fox with ANOTHER small critter in its mouth! The other baby groundhog? I haven't seen our Resident Groundhog since then, although I think that is happenstance. I don't dare believe that he is gone. He's probably just keeping a low profile, as the fox traffic in our yard has been quite heavy!

Barb, it really was funny. This is a guy that not much fazes him. Electrical engineer and most things just roll off his back. But, this groundhog stuff is just too much, even for him. He's watched me sow the seeds 3 years ago and baby that lupine through it's first year as a seedling. It was the only one to survive the attacks that first year. I had 8 different ones, all named varieties, except for this unknown blue/purple one that I got in a trade. It bloomed last year with 5 blooms and I was so excited. No one, nothing touched it last year, not even the aphids. My mouth fell open at how huge and beautiful it was this year. The only thing funnier than watching him running across the front yard had to have been the phone call to him at work asking him to stop at the nursery on his way home and pick me up the container of 1500 ladybugs they where holding for me. First words where "WHAT?" I repeated it and he said "are you nuts?" I said "NO" he said "are you drunk? or on drugs? have you taken too many pain meds for your back? have you lost your mind?" I said "No, please go to Mahoney's on your way home and pick up the container of 1500 ladybugs that they are holding for me at the service desk" he said "That's it, I'm taking you to the ER, you have lost your mind. You want me to pick up a container of 1500 ladybugs and put them in the car? and what the crap do I do when they get out of this so called container?" I said, "you are not taking me to the ER, I am not crazy, they are hungry ladybugs and they are waiting for me to feed them with aphids. They won't get out of the container, I promise. They are in a sealed container that has little tiny air holes for them to breath and I have to break the seal and then pull open the top to let them out." He says, "sure, 1500 ladybugs in a container and they won't get out, my wife is nuts and they are going in the trunk." I said "I'm not nuts and don't put them in the trunk. It's 95 degrees outside, the dewpoint is in the 70's and they will be dead by the time you get home if you put them in the trunk." he said "good, then they won't get all over the inside of the car or all over the trunk. You are serious, you want a container of 1500 ladybugs and you want me to pay for them and bring them home to you in the car, right." I said, "Yes I'm serious. please, please, please before I don't have a lupine and the aphids destroy the plant." he said "OK, but ...... they better stay in the container." He brought them home, we followed the instructions, watered the plant first to provide moisture, waited till the sun was going down and then I let them out all over the plant. No escaped ladybugs in the car, they arrived home sitting right beside him on the front seat, and he's been checking them ever since. At least "Chuck" left them behind when he was finished with his meal. They are still busy eating the aphids on the demolished stems of the plant. Fran

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Lol, huge groundhog populations seem to be a SE PA thing... that's where we are too. That's a harrowing story about the groundhog and your dog, wow! I'm glad your dog was OK after that...yikes! Unfortunately my DH is fond of the groundhogs, so trapping and relocating doesn't seem to be an option... The other day I attached a piece of sheet metal to the gate and since then it doesn't look as if anything has been munching anymore on the fenced area of the garden, so hopefully the wide bars on the gate were the only way they were getting in. My fenced garden is surrounded by a concrete patio so they can't tunnel under the fence. Plus the fence is a 3 1/2 foot high old iron fence with bars that are close together and no gap underneath...so far I haven't seen them attempting to climb over it. But you never know. I've never grown vegetables either because of the groundhogs...it's a wonder anyone with farms can grow anything around here. I guess if worse comes to worse I will just have to go with the same plants in my non-fenced area like sedum, salvia, monarda, etc. which the groundhogs don't seem to eat. Thankfully my salvia is in bloom, and all the monarda/bee balm is about to bloom... so at least there is something pretty they don't devour!!

There is an article today in our local paper. A man rescued an abandoned baby groundhog (5wks.old) last May. His intention was to nurture it until the groundhog could be released back into the wild, but he became so attached to it. He named it "Brown Sugar" and states that he has trained it to shake hands and roll over on command. It even uses a litter box! After meals, he said Brown Sugar enjoys some play time, then goes under it's blankie for a nap. Too cute.