Welcome to the neighborhood! Sadie announced her presence to the local wildlife by killing a groundhog the other day. It’s weird, because I hadn’t seen a single groundhog since we’ve moved in, and seeing as how a forest is not really prime groundhog habitat, I assumed there weren’t really any in the area. So this unlucky fellow must have been on the prowl for some new real estate, but unfortunately, Sadie was not accepting new tenants.
I did feel kind of bad – I don’t really condone the murder of small animals. But, seeing as how this wasn’t the first time, I don’t think I can break Sadie of her doggie instincts – she is, after all, descended from wolves.
After the fact though, it was kind of neat to see nature take care of its own. I would typically bury the poor thing, but I’ve seen a bunch of turkey vultures in the area and I wanted to see if they could find it. So, much to the dismay of S, I left it out in the yard.
For the younger audience, I didn't get too graphic.
Needless to say, by the time I got home from work the next day, there were nine vultures and one groundhog skeleton in the yard. I guess if the vultures weren’t good at what they do, they’d be long extinct. Note: I did take care of the skeleton. It didn’t work out well for the groundhog, but it was a good learning experience. C is a little too young to understand these kinds of things, though he was interested in the big black birds.
Kinda creepy.
Next challenge for Sadie, since she seems to have gotten the small mammal thing down, is one of the many deer that patrol the area.
Groundhogs (a.k.a. woodchucks) wreak havoc in a garden. Good dog, Sadie!