Re: GWL groundhogs, rats and city slickers

**N* S* <s*@earthlink.net>**

I steward 140 acres of forest and field. My fields and half of my acre  
yard is au-natural. I mow around it to let folks know it's deliberate.  
You can't find many fields in my county. Folks love to mow around  
here. Even the woman.  I'm in the middle of the woods so I don't have  
that neighbor issue. In 15 years the number of houses in my road has  
increased from 3 to eight. Each of these homes provides a food source  
for raccoons, chucks and opossum. Nobody has mentioned them. And they  
do dig up freshly planted flowers and rip open bags of potting soil  
and fertilizer. But even though we live in the country, dogs must be  
tethered or fenced, so these animals have few enemies and no  
deterrents. To make matters worse chuck and coon lovers trap and dump  
animals on our road because there is a dead end sign at the entrance.  
This land has been in my family since 1941. I walked through the woods  
and fields as a child. As a kid it was a treat to catch a glimpse of a  
raccoon in the woods. And they were terrified and ran the other way.  
For more than a decade Charlie the woodchuck lived next door the  
septic drain at Dad's house.  He'd feed on clover in the lawn but  
never came near the house. Maybe it  was the great dane that pranced  
about the premises. Anyway - due to the increase in humans we are now  
overrun with these animals. They don't just eat my flowers, they eat  
bird eggs, baby birds, snakes  and my beloved toads. So I too,  refuse  
to turn a blind eye.  Nancy Szerlag

_______________________________________________
gardenwriters mailing list
gardenwriters@lists.ibiblio.org
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/gardenwriters
GWL list website  http://www.ibiblio.org/gardenwriters
GWL has searchable message archives at:
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters
If you have photos for GWL, send them to gwlphotos@hort.net and they can be viewed at  http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos