Groundhog Trouble

A haiku about the groundhog:

Sneaky and eats plants

Cute but will destroy garden

Must interrogate

If you deeply analyze the meaning of the haiku, above, you might be able to deduce that a groundhog came and ate all the newly sprouting seeds that we planted. What you will not be able to infer, however, is that it was a family of groundhogs, not just one. We have had issues with groundhogs before; we have attempted to catch them in the act, and failed. As a result, the garden would lose a substantial amount of produce over the duration of a single night.

This year, les marmottes* were not as clever. When we caught the groundhog, we saw that it was a juvenile groundhog. That was when we realized that we were up against not one, but three guileful creatures. After the parents saw that their son was caught, though, they left the premise immediately. A witness reported seeing the father pack up his belongings and scramble off saying, "It's every groundhog for himself now!" Another witness reported hearing the mother groundhog vow to live a better life, no longer taking from gardens, but settling for a diet of wild berries instead.

I'm happy to confirm that the garden is now growing again and coming along very well!

*"the groundhogs" in French