Groundhogs: Myth or Reality?
Continuing on with the "animal theme" in this lightning round of posts, does anyone know, via personal experience what a groundhog looks like? I'm here to tell you--up close they don't look like our friend from CaddyShack up above (a killer movie to be sure: "Viet Cong...Gopher Cong").
I just saw one of those burly little creatures in my neighbor's back yard and he was significantly larger than my cat (who is fairly slim) and a good deal larger than even the stomach-dragging-the-ground cats we have in the neighborhood (sad to say, we have several of those). What he really looked like, though, was a stocky beaver sans beaver-tail.
And I just thought of something. Bill Murray was also in the movie classic "Groundhog Day". Seems he has kind of a groundhog thing going on there.
Oh, something else I should say. I have a ferret named Chloe (used to have her own website but I got lazy about it. Fear not, she shall return!) and being a domestic ferret owner I'm curious as to their origins and such.
Well, regarding their origins, domestic ferrets (who were never wild to begin with) are at least partially derived from Black Footed ferrets, which have, in recent years, been reintroduced into the wild.
What do Black footed ferrets eat? Prairie dogs. Not being a "wildsman", I used to get prairie dogs and groundhogs confused. Well, after seeing the fellow next door, that won't happen again. It would take Chloe and ten friends to even challenge Mr. Groundhog.
6 Comments:
es we have groundhogs in my neck of the woods. I live on a little over 4 acres.
They are interesting buggers. They're very particular (at least the ones around my way) For example, I planted beans this year. I plant them every year. The groundhogs start eating my beans one day and come back to the exact same spot to pick up where they left off. Deers and rabbits aren't like that they eat anywhere. They don't care not these groundhogs.
It's hard to believe that my ferrets (I have four) would be able to handle a prairie dog. Then again black footed ferrets are a little bigger and I imagine a tad bit wilier than the domesticated ferrets although mine can hang with the big boys (My Maltese & Shih Tzu.)
It's pretty interesting watching them work together as a team to take my dogs out.
I have a website dedicated to my ferrets. It's been neglected the past few months. I feed my ferrets raw meat really shocks the hard core vegans and quite a few that aren't vegan I'm sure.
I didn't know they (groundhogs) were like that. Although, I guess that makes sense since I've had the impression that they stay in certain areas if they like them (golf courses, if you believe the movies).
Actually, what I read about wild ferrets is that they hunt and kill the prairie dogs and then take up residency in their holes.
My ferret Chloe would not be able to handle a prairie dog. She is a definite pee-wee. In fact, my vet said she is the smallest sable ferret she has ever seen. I went to a pet store recently to get some supplies and the six week old kits looked quite a bit bigger than Chloe who is...wow, having trouble remembering. She's got to be about 4 or 5 years old by now. She has killed a mouse once before. Although, I don't know if she really killed the mouse or stole it from the cat. But oneday, I saw Chloe poke her head out of her sleepsack and out popped the head of the mouse. Looked cartoon-like, almost like there were Xs on the mouse's eyes.
LOL lazy ferts! They love to tunnel. I have a nice sized playpen set up in my back yard.
I'll be taking mine outside later today they can be found at www.ferretshaven.com I'm ashamed that I haven't been updating as often as I would like.
Yes they are a handful they are wonderful pets and very comical.
My biggest ferret is almost four pounds.
My smallest (albino male) actually picked up weight when I switched them to a raw food diet. He'll never be as big as the others, but he definitely can hang when they start their play fighting.
I love your description of Chloe and the mouse. My fuzzies tracked and killed two mice that had unfortunately found their way in my home. I've always liked the name Chloe. Very beautiful I hope you update the site I would love to see her pictures.
Oh by the way I loved CaddyShack and GroundHog Day I always liked Bill Murray. I think he's a great actor!
Whoops the blog is located at http://ferretshaven.com/dook/
Your ferrets look great, Opal. Your sable looks like Chloe, just bigger.
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