Friday, June 19, 2009

Woodchuck

I'd like you to meet my new friend, living under the front door steps. Seemingly arriving only recently, it's made itself right at home. This isn't the first--over the years woodchucks have dug their dens throughout the yard. Isn't it just the sweetest little critter?







A Drumlin Woochuck

One thing has a shelving bank,
Another a rotting plank,
To give it cozier skies
And make up for its lack of size.

My own strategic retreat
Is where two rocks almost meet,
And still more secure and snug,
A two-door burrow I dug.

With those in mind at my back
I can sit forth exposed to attack
As one who shrewdly pretends
That he and the world are friends.

All we who prefer to live
Have a little whistle we give,
And flash, at the least alarm
We dive down under the farm.

We allow some time for guile
And don't come out for a while
Either to eat or drink.
We take occasion to think.

And if after the hunt goes past
And the double-barreled blast
(Like war and pestilence
And the loss of common sense),

If I can with confidence say
That still for another day,
Or even another year,
I will be there for you, my dear,

It will be because, though small
As measured against the All,
I have been so instinctively thorough
About my crevice and burrow.

~Robert Frost



2 comments:

  1. Wonderful post! They are cute, aren't they? (obviously I don't have a garden...!) There is a 'chuck in one of the fields where I walk that I'm sure has a den/babies hidden nearby- last week I saw him/her sitting upright, watching us approach; usually she would scamper off down her hole; but on this day she remained still, almost daring us to come closer. Of course my dog (leashed) wanted to investigate and tried to lurch forward for a better sniff and that woodchuck let out a screeeech and began doing a Muhammed Ali imitation, dancing around on her hind legs and punching the air with her little arms. Then she lunged at us! I wasted no time and took off in the opposite direction; even my dog was frightened! I'm sure she was protecting her den and/or babies but I had never seen anything like it! We will honor her territory and not walk that route for a few more weeks. But it was still something to see!
    ~gretchen

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  2. Thanks! :-) Haven't seen Chuck yet today but I'm sure he's around.

    That's some wild behavior and would have made a priceless picture. I have this mental image of you and your dog in retreat with a woodchuck in pursuit, stopping only to shake her fists. Great story! :-)

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