Visitors they come and they go. We have our share of them. This one has decided he would like to live under our front porch.
Sadly, he may have to be evicted, they can cause serious damage to building foundations. For now, I’ll enjoy the chubby cheek adorableness from afar.
I’ve read that they can be made into pets, however it requires a lot of work, and that it is quite difficult to attain the cute and cuddly stage.
Also, they are good swimmers. Whoda thunk? And so Mr. Cottage named him Phelps.
They are herbivorous and receive their hydration from eating leafy plants.
They can move up to 35 cubic feet and up to 5,500 pounds of soil when creating a burrow.
What is it?
Whistle-pig (I never heard that term before), woodchuck, land beaver, or more commonly known in our area as a ground-hog.
I took a photo this morning through the window as Phelps was hanging out on the front porch.
Phelps is smiling at me with his long front teeth. He said “Hey lady, I was thinking about making a meal out of your Chinese cabbage you got planted out here on the porch.”
I set the critter cam out in the yard last night and managed to catch a few candid shots of him this morning as he was coming and going.
Good Morning!
Hey – What’s the funny looking square thing with the flashing lights? Maybe I’ll take a step closer and investigate.
You can tell he was thinking about doing some pole dancing on the tiki torch pole.
He decides to go hang out on the porch instead.
Any advice on relocating Phelps?
See you later bye!
Kim
Red Dirt Farm and Studio 
We don’t have those in Texas. He is quite cute. Our dogs would go nuts with him under the deck. Maybe if he behaves he can stay. He seems to not mind you and the camera at all!
Lisa
>
LikeLike
Lisa, If Betsy were a real dog, not a lazy no good for nothing dog, she would solve the problem – just saying. They are extremely destructive and will hurt a stupid dog, not to mention the cats. He is actually very shy, I had to sneak tippy toed to get photos.Fun to see for awhile anyway. xo k
LikeLike
Phelps is a good name. I’ll bet this is the first time you’ve had your very own groundhog.
LikeLike
Yep, and I bet it will be the last if we can have anything to do with it. Beyond that cuteness is a boatload of trouble. Too bad our no good for nothing lazy dog Betsy,won’t dispatch of him.
LikeLike
Jeez, what you expect from a no good for nothing lazy dog?
LikeLike
good luck with that~ we had to shoot the one that took up residence under our porch. I’m not the softy I once was! Right now I’m fighting off ANTS. Ah HATES ANTS!!! Just sayin’. I love the photos, though. You made my day!
LikeLike
Well Melissa, at the least I am glad I made your day. We fight ants too. AND lord help us when we are in FL, the fire ants are unbelievable! No matter how hard I try to avoid them I always manage to get stung at least once every time we are down there – so very painful. As far as the groundhog goes, I hate to shoot him, yes I am still a softie – until he eats my garden or damages the house – just sayin’. xo Kim
LikeLike
We don’t have anything like that here. It looks quite cute bute I have head they can be aggressive. Hope they find a new home soon, it was nice to meet him! Sarah x
LikeLike
Sarah – You have hedgehogs there right? They look cute are they destructive? I think Phelps has out smarted me and found another way to come and go where I can’t see him. He is going to have to move on no matter how cute. xo Kim
LikeLike
ha ha – that was a hilarious post! Ugh….we have them constantly in our yard. Trapping them is no small feat. They are VERY smart. Somehow we’ve gotten lucky a couple of times and managed to trick them into entering hay covered traps filled with lovely veggies. We took them to a local park where there are hundreds of future friends and mates and let them go there. They will demolish your garden in no time and boy do they dig and make big ol’ homes for themselves……all over. I wish you much luck in trapping Phelps!!
LikeLike
I think Phelps got the message and moved out all on his own. I was so worried about his mischief making, but I didn’t want to kill him and trapping can be such a pain. I think all is good now. xo
LikeLike
Hi my sweet lady friend — if you call animal control, I do believe they have traps you can borrow and they might even come and set one up for ya! Good luck with that. I once had one under my house (many years ago) and it began to knaw at the pipes. Unfortunately, it had to meet it’s demise with a round of buck shot.
XXOO
LikeLike
Oh my, knawed on pipes sounds like a very bad thing. We tried that live trap thing before with a problem raccoon, no luck. I think the problem has been resolved though. xo
LikeLike
We’ve had them here too, and for a while I fed one I named ‘Mr. Ed.’ He was cute until he decided to go in the goose pen and eat their corn-hissing at them while he ate. I thought that was stretching his welcome a little too far. We safe-trapped him and moved him to his very own meadow. He did not have babies or anything, so it was okay. I think my geese were very glad Mr. Ed was gone!
LikeLike
Debra – Mr. Ed too funny – did he talk to you? I heard a hissing sound and did not know what it was, I think you just solved that mystery. I’m sure your lovely geese children were happy to see Mr. Ed leave. Very funny. xo
LikeLike
Hi Phelps! Made me laugh at the thought of him pole dancing with a smile on his face!
LikeLike
Lucent – Phelps must be pole dancing at some other club – I haven’t seen him since I took those photos. Which is a good thing so they are so destructive. Kinda miss that silliness though. 🙂
LikeLike