It was supposed to snow yesterday, but by the time morning showed up, that was pretty clear nonsense. I loaded the dogs and hit the farms, and was about half way out when I realized I had no coat, no vest, nothing but a long-sleeve shirt over a T-shirt. Oh well, at least I had a decent hat! I checked the temperature, and it was 33 degrees, so it would not be too bad. Serious walking at 30 degrees and a shirt is about perfect. If there was going to be much wind or standing around I would be in trouble, but that would be a problem I would deal with if it came up (though I was not too sure how).
The dogs bounced out of the truck, and very quickly it became apparent that the groundhogs were moving about. This is mating season for them, and the males will roam looking to find as many females as they can. The females will clean out their dens a bit, evacuate their bowels, and then bunker back down with a dirt plug in the mouth of the den to keep out intruders and water. I like this time of year, as I can find new dens before they disappear under the vegetation that starts to spring out in early April.
I was headed to a fox sette I have worked a few times in years past. The huntsman I talked to a few weeks ago asked me if I had seen coyotes on the farm. I had not, but he said they were there (no surprise) and that he had found a vixen with her throat torn out by one a few weeks earlier. Yow!
As I headed to the fox den, Mountain and Gideon crowned over a slight rise and disappeared. When I got to the sette, I stopped and listened. Nothing. I waited and then I heard a barking below. The sound was a bit illusive, but I eventually found the dogs about 30 feet from the fox den, and down a wooded slope thick with multiflora rose. Gideon was inside baying up a storm, and Mountain was working two different holes trying to get in along an alternate route.
I leashed up Mountain and put her at a hole that she was interested in, but I thought an unlikely pipe to support an exit. It was probably where Gideon had entered.
I downed tools and boxed for Gideon. He was not deep, and very near another exit. Looking good. Ten inches down I hit solid rock. A bit of soil removal and I ascertained that it was an enormous rock that had cracked into three pieces, with the edges still firmly together. I got out the smaller one, which was about the size of my head, with some difficulty. Then using the the bar and and post hole handles as a lever, along with the shovel, I managed to get out the second stone which was about as big as a sofa cushion.
Things moved quickly and easily after that. I managed to snare the groundhog, take his picture, and let him go for another day ("and now with your third hand...") while keeping Gideon underground by kicking a blocking rock into the hole.
Once I was sure the groundhog was good and gone, I let Gideon out, but leashed him up immediately, as I was not interested in him going to ground on the same animal again. I packed up, and with the dogs on lead, headed back to the truck. It was going to be a short day. No need to push the shoulder early in the season.
It looks like the farmer is repairing the old barn, which makes me happy as it is a massive structure and I hate to see old barns left to fall in on themselves.
I got back home in time to see my son off to college. It's a four-hour drive down to Blacksburg, and he located the snow that never reach us on his way up the valley, sending me this picture from his cell phone along the way.
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