careful jenny, he might decide to burrow through your liner?

Now that is an interesting question. Since groundhogs usually flood-proof their burrows and tunnels, would they damage a liner?

We had a huge groundhog dig a tunnel all the way across the yard, under the patio and the greenhouse and then an exit was in an upper terrace. We are talking big time tunnel here. It was two feet under the surface for over 40 yards and that was just the tunnel we could locate. He hid the exit with a heavy plastic bag he carried in from someones garden trash. We never found the entrance which must have been in the woods and there were probably more exits we didn't find.

I've often wondered where he put the debris from digging and using the plastic seemed to be an unusually intelligent thing to do. He must have carried it quite a distance. Maybe the plastic was just a fluke but obviously some groundhogs are smart.

Your visitor probably isn't interested in digging next to the pond. They must be wary of water since they dig special nesting chambers that are flood proof, but the liner just might be interesting as a building material.

Awww! You have a Chuckie! :-)I don't know if he'd mess up your pond or the liner. I do know they LOVE bananas, Apple Jacks cereal and apples. LOL!

I'm not much help am I?

oh how cute. where i live we have tons and tons ground hogs. i have two dashounds and they love to go down the holes and get them. but they never hurt them or catch them, they just dig and bark alot.
i hope he does not mess up your pond.

have a great night laura

I doesn't seem to go to close to the pond. It uses the path between the wading pool and the settlement pond as it's exit out of the yard.

C3D:

Hmmmm, apples, apple jacks, bananas.........now let me see......lol

Sandy:

Hiding the exit with a plastic bag! Right! It served a dual purpose. It kept it's exit hidden and could be used to tote the dirt away from its burrow.........haven't you ever seen a groundhog carrying a plastic shopping bag? What do you think is in it? Groceries? lol........who said groundhogs aren't smart?

Hey, maybe I'll have my own Puxatawny Phil next year. Whadda you think?

Jenny

I bet if you checked the shopping bag there would be cereal and fruit inside! 8-) LOL!

We had a Chuckie for several months as he tried to recover from being hit by a car. He LOVED getting a bath! *LOVED* getting dried with a towel even more ... although I do NOT recommend you try that with Magoo!

They can be destructive in the yard as they make their tunnels and dens. Your garden is very inviting for wildlife and that's not such a bad thing as long as they respect your schtuff. :-)

Hey Chicka:

Something has been nibbling my tomatoes on the vine. Whatever it is doesn't take the tomato. Just bites every darn one of them. Didn't think it could be Magoo though because they are high on the vine. Maybe a chipmunk?

Some pics of my little visitor sitting outside of my kitchen window.

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Jenny

Ohhh! How cute! :-)

Could be chipmunks doing damage. Sometimes birds will peck at tomatoes too ESPECIALLY when it's really hot outside.

Skunks have been chomping on the water hyacinths at Camp Nappy just about every other night. :-/ At least they don't trash the ponds like raccoons do.

Jenny,

How adorable! I wish I had some neat woodland critters like that visiting my pond! I'm sure, though, my cats would also go nuts. The only difference is that my cats have a pet door that lets them come and go at will....got a feeling they would be out there chasing any critters that show up! LOL

But, in regards to your chipmunk issue. Cats are wonderful chipmunk hunters!! I can't even begin to count all the chipmunk presents I've been given over the last 2 summers!

C3D:

Where is a skunk when you need it? When I first moved in we had a family of skunks that lived in a burrow behind my neighbor's garage. They stayed for about three years. Then the raccoons moved in and the skunks disappeared. You just answered my question about why I am having such a problem with yellow jackets this year. Before the skunks moved out the yellow jackets didn't have a chance. I would love watching them destroy the yj nests when it got dark. They would always manage to leave a little piece or two by my side door when they were finished. Guess the yj's don't like the odor either. Someone told me once if you have skunks you won't have raccoons or vice versa.

Jenny:

(nice name by the way) I call them my munkmunks. I have an all brick house and they love to run up and down the brick walls (on the outside of course). They have made it up to the second floor window this way. I swear the one that lives behind my pond must be as big as a squirrel. I did have one of them chew a quarter size hole in the liner that goes around my settlement pond, but not where it'll leak. However that liner isn't 45 mil. like my big pond. I just couldn't live without my critters. I love blueberries and planted several bushes. I don't have the heart to pick them because the robins love them so much, so I still buy organic blueberries at the health store. lol

My cats are and always will be strictly indoor cats. I had my sunroom built just for them. It took me many contractors to find one that would install glass windows all the way to the floor. This way they can enjoy nature and I don't have to worry about them. There are just too many dangers for them outside for me to take a chance. One of them being: skunks. However, I can't protect the flies, spiders and centipedes that trespass at their own risk. lol One year I overwintered my pond plants in three wading pools in my basement. I came home from work one night in February to find huge beautiful full grown dragonflies dead all over my basement floor. The cats must have had a field day with them. I felt so bad I cried. I picked them up and kept them in a bag till I could bury them when the ground thawed out.

Jenny

We have NO yellow jackets! We have plenty o' skunk! Daisy goes crazy wanting to go outside to ~play~ with her black and white friends.

I don't care if she has bloody diarrhea ..! She's NOT going to go out and meet the skunks!!!

Hmmmm. We haven't had raccoons raiding the ponds this year. Interesting! :-)