Over half a million auctions at last!!!!

[Policequilts]

Summer is almost over ? It's been about 6 weeks of hot and humid days. Just days of sweating and trying to get any outside work done is very slow.

I did get all my gardens weeded this past week. ( Finally )

My yard has been filled with wild bunnies and they are not bothered by my cats.
There has been chases, but the heat . . .
The cats are having a awful time going after the chipmunks. One of my cats have been getting shrews.

The hummingbirds are wonderful to watch and I have been getting a lot of variety of butterflies this year.
My butterfly weed plants are full of Monarch butterfly caterpillars.

Here's a few more of the gardens







Yesterday, I finally got to go down to the barn and work on sorting items left from the contractor.
Pails of nails and screws have been sorted, but there may be more as I am going through the mess.
( This is only a portion of the mess ) There was an engine block and over 50 gallons of used oil left.

[Mandart]

That's lovely PQ, your gardens always look nice every year

[Policequilts]

Woo Hoo!
I finally got rid of my trouble maker.

* I have mentioned about the wood chuck that has been raising havoc in my yard.
* I have a large garage where the front portion has a cement floor and the back section is dirt.

* Mr. Woodchuck has made the back of my garage his home between 4-5 years now.
* He's chewed holes through the doors on both sides of the garage.
* He's dug so many holes entering the back of garage and me piling rocks or ? in those holes.
* I had to barricade around the base of the garage with rubber mats to hinder his digging.

* He must of summered somewhere else and then with the coldness is trying to return to the garage.

* This year, he manage to chew a hole through the front entrance door. I ended placing metal around the base of the door.
* Then he tried to chew a hole into my back porch door.
* He also started a hole in the back of the house where I used to have a cistern. ( thank goodness for all the rocks that he could only dig 12 inches down.

* I heard noises on the front porch and found he trying to figure out how to get under the thick cement pad.
* I finally figured out a way to bait him and . . .



This WAS the wood chuck that has cost me in damages.

[Stnenopmoc]

That looks like one pi***d off critter. Well done

Going to let him back out so you can have the fun of the chase again?


Or


do what us brits do, let it out and adopt it as a pet. The general comments are 'they are so cute' (especially applied to mice, foxes, squirrels and badgers).

Give it regular food and water, encourage it to breed and then complain when the little varmets overun your property

[johnwash1]

Well done! He looks old to me, though I have no experience whatsoever with woodchucks, but I want you to feel good about this. Euthanasia. You can see the MAGA glint in his eye, you know you need to... both barrels.

And don't go soft and let him out within 50 miles, he'll find his way back to your comfy quarters.

We Brits who live in rural parts aren't quite so soft in the head about 'cute'. Round here we have rats, mice, mangy foxes, mink, pigeons, squirrels. Don't get me started about squirrels, most of our sweetcorn lost this year and we had a squirrel gnaw through the propane gas hose that supplies our hob. Presumably he launched himself into outer space when he released the pressure.

[Stnenopmoc]

In London it is all about scruffy maingy foxes (that enjoy chewing rubber brake pipes - really) and really noisy parrots. Otherwise, anything small and furry appears to be adopted by the London elete and their offspring, the caged amarican varmet would do very well in London.

[Policequilts]

@Stnenopmoc @johnwash1

Yes, I put her to rest quickly.
I will be waiting in a week or two if I got the only woodchuck or if there is another one out there.
I guess, next year, I can start replacing / repairing all the damages this wood chuck has done.

The best part : The state of Wisconsin (USA) have wood chucks on the protective species. Other states do not. AND they are very destructive.
I had a friend that almost had the LP tank ( heating fuel) tipped over because one of these dug under the tank.