"No animals were harmed in the making of this movie."
Which is a nice way of saying that I did not reduce the number of groundhogs on the farm yesterday.
Which is fine with me. I want to keep this farm seeded with some groundhogs, and I was a bit greedy last year and took off more than I should have. As a consequence, I have been laying off a little the last few months so that this Spring's young ones might grow up to see sport in the Fall. No reason to bleed a farm white.
The first groundhog of the day was found inside a huge Sycamore trunk. There was no getting to it, so I let Mountain bay it up a little and I took a short clip with the point-and-shoot camera. The groundhog was just past Mountain's grasp, and the whistling is the groundhog's distress and warning signal.The second groundhog was seen by me while I was waiting for Mountain to come out of the first hole -- it was about 50 yards away in a sette that I think is diggable (barely) but only if another person or two is there to help me shift a large tree trunk and brush pile that is laying across the top of it. Since this sette was within plain eye-ball sight of the one Mountain was now in, however, and since Mountain would return to the first sette without a moment's hesitation, I decided to give this second sette a pass and return to it another day.
As I walked up the creek with the dogs on lead, I heard a splashing in the water below. At first I thought it was a couple of ducks, but when I peered over the edge, I found an enormous pair of snapping turtles that appeared to be en flagrante delicto, with the two of them jammed up under a log to brace themselves. I took a picture as one emerged and swam away, but it does not show much. That said, if you click on the picture below, you can see the back of one of the turtles, with his/her tail tail sticking out the back. The other turtle is under the algae mat just to the left.
The third sette of the day was in a large hedgerow pile of trash mixed with dirt and detritus. When I was last on this farm, they had been cleaning up this area of the hedgerow, but it seems they stopped half way through the job.
Mountain, of course, found inside the area that was still foul with barbed wire and metal, and I had to shift parts of old oil drums, metal fly wheels, lengths of chain, long boards, pieces of metal roofing, old hedge trimmings, old rubber hose and fan belts, as well as welded bits of metal fencing and some old chicken wire. Oh joy.
I finally got down to the dog, pulled her, and put her on lead. It was not worth going down down any farther for a groundhog. A fox? Sure. A groundhog? No reason to risk injury to the dog or myself with all these old rusty nails and bits of metal about. Experience has taught me that there is a place to put in the shovel and put on the leash.
Mountain exits from the slot in the rubble under the board at her feet.
The fourth groundhog of the day was in another massive old Sycamore on water's edge that was also totally undiggable. I could see and hear that Mountain was in and on it, and I grabbed up Pearl, as I knew this sette had at least two eyes and there was a good chance Mountain could get a bolt. And sure enough, she did. It scurried off into the underbrush after only a few minutes, and I decided to call it a day.
No digging, but still an enjoyable day in the field. The critters we let slip on this day will provide sport for another.
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Pearl waits with pack and digging bar for Mountain to exit.
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3 comments:
"No reason to bleed a farm white."
Um, speaking as a grower, I can think of LOTS of reasons to "bleed a farm white" when it comes to groundhogs! And each of those reasons is a veggie plant I grew from seed and silly me, actually wants a harvest for ME (and the local food bank, that depends on us), rather than the #@$%!!!!! groundhogs.
You're more than welcome to stay with us and dig to the dogs at the community garden when you're in Philly to visit your son (we're 25 miles away NW), but I don't want to see any namby-pamby movie disclaimers on the film afterwards! ;-)
Your dogs don't eat their kill? Most of my PA grower collegues that shoot groundhogs grind them up and that's the dogs' meal for however long it lasts.
Our community garden's groundhog trapper, an elderly African-American gentleman, roasts them with onions -- the wives won't touch it, but he and his buddies really look forward to it. When the groundhogs are running, they will check the trap several times a day, hoping for a get-together soon.
I, of course, just want the groundhogs GONE!
You said "I let Mountain bay it up a little". This made me wonder how you get your dogs out of an undiggable set...or one you know is dangerous?
I have your book but don't recall mention of this.
I know you suggest staying quiet for as long as it takes for the dog to exit....but what if you want them out NOW?
Can you call your dogs out...or do you worry this may affect the drive you expect from them when in front of quarry?
There is a certain amount of acceptance that comes with digging on the dogs. You have to make peace with the fact that, at times, you are powerless, and that your schedule is one of those things that may slip from time to time. In fact, if your dog is trapped underground (it has not happened to me yet, but it will some day) it may slip by a day or two. Ditto your budget if a dog gets seriously injured or if you need to call in a mechanical digger.
The bottom line is that if you dig on the dogs, you need to be able to be late to work and you need to be able to tap a few thousand dollars for emergency veterinary work if it comes to that.
That said, most terriers, in my experience, will come out to see what is going on if they hear no one top side for 20 minutes... or an hour... or two hours.
If the dog is not taking a pasting from the critter in the hole, and can see, hear or smell the critter just ahead of it (and maybe get in a good bite on the ass every once in a while), the motivation for the dog to stay and work is going to be higher, however, and the wait may be a bit longer. That said, most really experienced dogs recognize that digging is a team thing, and most will eventually come out to why you have not joined the team. Could this take an hour and a half? Oh yes! :)
It *IS* possible to train a dog to come out when called (training is done using a go-to-ground tunnel), but this does not always work even when trained in. What will work on a quiet caged rat in a tube will not necessarily work with a squaling raccoon or snarling fox in a real earth. Sometimes the difference between theory and reality is the difference between lightning and the lightning bug, and this is one of those cases.
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