Our own little war...

Our humble home, Chateau d'Lieteau, here in NEPA, is under attack.  My sons and I have declared war on the attackers, and have made serious headway against our assailants.  

Who are they, you ask?  Marmota monax.

Groundhogs.  Woodchucks.  Ground squirrels.  Giant rodents.  Destroyers of gardens and lawns.  The plague of the northeast.  The enemy of my backyard.

What headway have we made?  Two confirmed kills today, on top of two during the last week.  Good news, indeed... but concerning, too.  All I have read on the beasties says they are fairly solitary animals, living in their holes in small, family groups of between three and five animals.  We are four down already (not counting their insidious allies, the rabbits... two of them, too)... but we saw another three today while shooting the second of today's confirmed kills.  Now, our den (nest-warren-VC tunnel system) is not the only one here.  There is one across the street, within 20 yards from my mailbox... and another up the hill from our pool on my neighbor's property.  I suppose they could move from one den to another, or that the one's I've killed may be making sorties from these more distant dens... but I'm more worried that there are undiscovered dens within the bounds of my property.

Still, confirmed kills aside, the garden has been decimated.  The lettuce, the carrots, the peppers, and the beans are all a complete loss.  Only the pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes and cabbage remain.  There are now no fewer than eight nine-inch holes in the one warren that we know of, sheltering any number of lurking groundhogs.

Thus, the fight continues...