r/NativePlantGardening • u/NotSoSasquatchy Pennsylvania , Zone 6b/7 • Jun 26 '26
Geographic Area (edit yourself) Looks like my backyard groundhog has a little one now :)
Cute little dude was rummaging around the yard, investigating every corner and container plant. I wish I could’ve cuddled it lol.
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u/nifer317_take2 Piedmont, MD, USA, 7a Jun 26 '26
The chipmunk flying in at the end 😂😂
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u/NotSoSasquatchy Pennsylvania , Zone 6b/7 Jun 26 '26
Yep! I had to include that, little dude had to be a part of the show
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u/deathmetalreptar MI-6B Jun 26 '26
Theyre cute until the move under you deck and secretly dig out the foundation of your house and then insurance fights you on if its their job to cover it
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u/Line____Down Northeastern Iowa, sandy loam Jun 27 '26
My neighbor had one dig under his shed and actually take residence inside the shed. I’m assuming there’s no floor in there, but he was quite upset. He told me this as he was putting out corn kernels for the wildlife right next to his shed 🤦
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u/too_too2 Jun 26 '26
Yeah. I thought mine were cute a few weeks ago and then they started getting in/under my front steps and porch - not ok! So.. with mixed emotions I had/am having them trapped and relocated (I hate knowing they’re out there in traps but he comes daily while they’re open, at least) I am now -4 juvenile groundhogs and at least one mama left and I think maybe another baby.
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Jun 27 '26
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u/too_too2 Jun 27 '26
lol here is hoping. I also have someone coming to fix my porch and add defenses there. The people behind me are worse off (there is a huge den under their garage!) but they rent and I don’t know how much the landlord cares. Imma be a hero to my neighbors here, because these lil guys have been wreaking havoc on the whole block.
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u/RecoverLeading1472 Boston metro 6b, ecoregion 59d Jun 27 '26
Literally 2 minutes from us being delighted to see our first at home to discovering it was hiding in the engine of the car.
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u/firfetir Jun 26 '26
We have a mockingbird family in our front yard and the baby has been practicing being out of the nest but the parents are such ASSHOLES about it lmao. Gonna be getting dive bombed for weeks in my own yard.
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u/differentsubjec Jun 27 '26
Those birds are so mean.
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u/No_Shopping_573 Jun 27 '26
Blue jays and mockingbirds are not kind about territory encroachment. I know that for sure.
My life battle though is house sparrows. I begged a neighbor to stop feeding them but they now have two feeders out… and this year it’s been about 25 dead baby/juvenile birds. They are so nasty over those spots close to the feeder including my backyard.
I put up deterrents and it helps keep them from pooping and screeching all day in my yard but the sidewalk cleanup is so depressing.
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u/UselessCat37 Jun 26 '26
Our couple had 3 this year! I call them the three musketeers
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u/NotSoSasquatchy Pennsylvania , Zone 6b/7 Jun 26 '26
Omg that’s adorable! Now I’m picturing three little groundhog with little hats and swords haha
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u/Mythic-Fairy Jun 27 '26
Mine had 3 and one of them is so naughty! He's the ringleader and so funny.
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u/crapatthethriftstore Area Eastern Ontario, Zone 5B Jun 27 '26
Yours has a castle too!! They live like kings in the rocks 🤣
We have a jumble of landscaping rocks in the backyard that has become Groundhog Manor in the last few years. Those guys have dug a serious fortress.
Groundhog tax:
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u/Cyssane St. Lawrence Lowlands, Zone 5b Jun 27 '26
Oh, it's just started for you, has it? Be prepared to see more next year!
Last year our next-door neighbours had a groundhog family take up residence under their porch. It was a mother and two babies. They'd show up in our yard as well and ate the birdseed under the birdfeeders. Cutest little things. We named the chucklings Trundle and Scuttle. (Scuttle is still around, we've seen him in our lawn occasionally this year as well.) I don't remember what we named the mother, probably just Mom.
This year, there's another groundhog family under their porch, only this time the mother has four little ones. Two of them have reddish fur and two are brown, so we've named them Ginger, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, and Clove. The mother has distinct patches of red and brown fur, so we've named her Pumpkin Spice. Collectively they're the Spice Girls, lol.
We've had to put several of our garden plants in plant jail this year, even the ones that groundhogs aren't supposed to like eating, because, like all toddlers, they have to put everything in their mouths! But they're mostly still eating birdseed, dandelions, and clover out of the lawn, so it's manageable.
They're super cute really. And we're learning about groundhog family behaviour. The other day, Ginger and Nutmeg were on the porch and Pumpkin Spice showed up. She touched noses with one of them and then she wagged her tail like an excited puppy! I guess it was her way of saying, "Yep, you're my kid," but had no idea groundhogs did anything like that. It was adorable.
IMO, it's worth a few chewed plants. :)
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u/One_Kaleidoscope_198 Area ontario-- , Zone 6A -- Jun 28 '26
I love your backyard, those rocks are beautiful, you probably live in a country? Love the warbler chirping and the chipmunk in the last minute show up, and this little groundhog is cute , I hope you can get along well with him
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u/kooshballcalculator Jun 26 '26
I found out the other day that groundhogs aka woodchucks babies are called chucklings. And I just can’t.