Battling Groundy

One of the more humorous battles of late has been interactions with the neighborhood groundhog. He (or she?) lives in the woods behind our house and has exploited a weak spot in the chain link fence. Now there is a hole about six inches in diameter behind the lilac tree, which offers hidden access to our yard.

All summer long I watched that rascal get more and more brave every morning. It started out sneaking into the yard and prowling along the chain link fence. My wife and I would look out with chuckles and say “Oh look who’s back!” It was cute…with the squirrels, rabbits, and birds we basically had a nature program airing in the backyard everyday. As long as the groundhog stayed near the fence, there was no problem.

He didn’t.

Day after day, I began noticing a line in the grass that led from the back fence lilac tree to the back patio. It got more and more pronounced, like somebody was dragging something through the lawn everyday…which is exactly what was happening.

The groundhog was dragging his well-fed body to the back porch to eat the peanuts and seeds that my wife threw out for the birds and squirrels. I caught him in the act on multiple occasions, each time flinging open the sliding door with lots of noise to scare him off.

Side note: I told my mother how he ran and she asked if he looked like a rolled up bath mat when he ran. I said “yes” and more like a Shar-pei wrapped in a bath mat, with rolls of fat wiggling and jiggling as he ran away.

He now has a name: Groundy. I tried to block his chain link fence hole with a large rock jammed into the hole…no bueno. Groundy moved that aside like it was made of cork.

What’s the lesson? Simple. Shore up the chinks in my armor before the devil and the flesh exploit them and turn them into a daily routine of sin. Then run the “Groundies” out of my life before they destroy the garden and eat all the potential fruit.

At least, that’s what the Lord showed me…now here’s the video of Groundy the persistent groundhog, who made his own trail in MY yard. He’s cute, but far too comfortable right now.