Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Groundhog Day

Another inch of rain fell throughout yesterday and last night, so the ground is quite soggy now! The rainfall warning has been lifted, and the rain is supposed to subside into showers for the rest of the week.

The Bag Lady and the Rancher watched the news on television last night at 6 pm and were surprised to hear that their area was under a tornado watch. Apparently, a funnel cloud had been spotted in the area. A thunderstorm blew through, but they didn't see any funnel clouds.

The Bag Lady has been trying in vain to take a photograph of the deer who is living in the bush across the driveway from her house. This doe has twin fawns who spend most of their time hiding in the underbrush, but who do come out and play periodically. Unfortunately, they usually come out when the Bag Lady is too far away to get a good picture (or she doesn't have her camera at all!).

She and the Rancher went to the dump... oops, they don't call them that anymore landfill the other day, then decided to take a little drive around the community. As they were taking the long way back to the highway, the Bag Lady spotted something slowly making it's way across the road in front of them. She asked the Rancher what it was, and he replied that it was a groundhog! The Bag Lady had never seen a real live groundhog, so she groped for her camera, only to discover that she had forgotten it! (Gasp!)
She was quite disappointed because the groundhog was on her side of the road when they went past, and she could have quite easily gotten a good picture.

Once they reached the highway, not long after they got up to speed, the Bag Lady spotted something moving on the verge on her side of the road. The Rancher slowed down and, sure enough, there was another groundhog. The Bag Lady watched as they went by, and the poor little guy backed up rapidly, like something in a movie. In her warped memory, he stood up on his hind legs, waving his hands in front of him as if to say "No! Don't hit me!" then covered his eyes as they swished by! (He was far enough off the road that he was in no danger of being hit.)
The Bag Lady hopes he made it safely across the road, or changed his mind and went back the way he came. And how typical that the very first time she sees a groundhog, she missed two good opportunities to take pictures.

23 comments:

Lucas said...

I've never seen a groundhog either. I did once see a real live tarantula crossing a dirt road i the middle of Oklahoma (true story!) but like you, had no camera with me. Dash it all!

Leah J. Utas said...

I know. It always happens when the camera is at home.
So cool about the groundhog.

Hilary said...

When I saw the title, I thought for sure we were going to get a repeat of yesterday's post. ;)

Too bad you missed the photo opportunity but I have little doubt you'll get another chance. For whatever reason, they were out in full.. perhaps there's a mini population explosion. Looking forward to fawn fotos sometime soon, too.

Emily said...

How neat! The one thing that I remember the most about Canada was all of the prarie dogs I saw...we joked that they were the Canadian equivalent of all the squirrels we have down here (not to say you don't have squirrels but we sure don't see prarie dogs all over the place.) The most frusturating thing was trying to get a picture of the damn things! Most of my pictures were of hill sides covered in prarie dog holes but with no prarie dogs in sight!

Yes I realized you saw a GROUNDHOG but I enjoy retelling my facinating PRARIE DOG story : )

Geosomin said...

Neat...I've never see a groundhog (except for in a movie) before.
Now gophers...that's another story :)

messymimi said...

Groundhog Day is actually one of my favorite holidays, mostly because I don't have to do anything in particular except enjoy the show. I would love to see one in person some time.

the Bag Lady said...

Lucas - well, I'm glad I saw the groundhog, rather than a tarantula! I'd STILL be running.... *shudder*

dfLeah - I was quite annoyed with myself for forgetting the camera. The groundhogs were so cute!

Hilary - Perhaps there is a population explosion - I'll have to keep an eye out for another (and a camera closer to hand!)

Emily - I enjoyed your prairie dog story! Even if it wasn't about a groundhog. :)

Geo - oh, yes - gophers. We don't have them this far north, but when I lived in Central Alberta, there were thousands of them. I saw them every day.

the Bag Lady said...

Messymimi - I was thrilled to actually see one. I asked hubby if they would bite.... they look so cuddly. He said that yes, they do bite if they are cornered.
Dang.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Most good photo ops happen when there isn't a camera handy. I love it that you're seeing fawns and now groundhogs, though.

the Bag Lady said...

Saw a bunny the other day, too, BG, but he was FAST! Swish, he was gone!

Sagan said...

I'm sure the opportunity will come again!

I carry my camera around with me everywhere. But it's always the few seconds that I don't have it that I actually want to use it.

the Bag Lady said...

Sagan - it never fails! I usually have mine in my pocket, but just happened to forget it that day. Sigh.

Emily said...

Thank you for showing me the correct way to spell "prairie" I knew something didn't look right but I was too lazy to spell check :)

Reb said...

You will have to set up a blind and sit in wait for the fawns. Then film it and don't forget to narrate in a slightly British accented whisper. While you are patiently waiting, your Groundhog will come and let you pet him. lol

Anonymous said...

We were playing croquet on July 4th and someone pointed out the large critter running across the road down by the creek. Yep, groundhog.
I didn't get a picture, either.

the Bag Lady said...

Emily - glad to be of service! :)

Reb - I actually did think about setting up a blind (well, actually, sit in my truck at the end of the driveway) in order to film the fawns - they are just so darned cute!

kcinnova - I don't feel so bad then - if you didn't get a picture, either!!

MizFit said...

Ive never seen a real one either and we throw a big soiree in his (her?) honor every year here as well.

my life is currently GHD.

Scorching unrelenting sun and a whiny three year old.

where the hell is BILL MURRAY!?

Missicat said...

Never seen a live groundhog! I did actually see a bunny a couple days ago which was the highlight of my week. :-)

solarity said...

Be grateful the groundhogs you saw were FAR (in groundhog strides, at least) from your garden. The ones I've seen were the ones who decided the shed foundation next to my parents' garden was the place to set up their nursery.

Mary Anne in Kentucky

Scrumpy said...

My favorite road-side spotting when we were in Texas were armadillos. They are such neat little creatures.

Melissa said...

Oh give me a break complaining about the rain. It rained nearly EVERY DAY in June, and it's still doing it. Yesterday IT DID NOT RAIN...and boy were we all taken aback. I think it's not going to rain today either.

I grew up with groundhogs.

Lil Nana said...

So cool you saw groundhogs. I want pictures too!
And the pictures of the twin fawns just go without saying. Hope you get some soon.

We also had a tornado warning yesterday. We were all at Calaway park since we aren't going to the grounds this year. Got rained out. My extended family was big into barrel racing and bareback. Love the rodeo.

You and the Rancher come down any time. We'd love it. We could take you to see the gopher exhibit (HONEST !!) at the zoo. So cute... with a concrete enclosure so they don't leave. (Wonder what that cost?)

Oh, and I was raised by a family of wild gophers.

the Bag Lady said...

Miz - you can never find a good comedian when you need one!

Missicat - I was just tickled to see those groundhogs! (And I saw a bunny last night again!)

Mary Anne in Kentucky - I suppose you're right - they were a lo-o-ng ways from here (about 10 miles), but they might have cousins closer to my garden!

Scrumpy - now I want to go to Texas and look for armadilloes! :)
(But I think I'll wait until it cools down down there - sounds wa-ay too hot right now!)

Melissa - Now I know who has been stealing our rain!! And believe me, I'm not complaining about it - we needed it so badly!

Lil Nana - I'll have to go stake out the bushes to see if I can get a picture of those fawns before they lose their spots!

There's a GOPHER exhibit at the zoo?? Cool!!
(And, if the Rancher can't get in for an MRI around here in good time, we just might have to drive to Calgary and pay for one!)