Trapped or killed to date: (1) armadillo, (1) possum, (1) groundhog. Forget that cuddly woodchuck in the Bill Murray movie. This thing was nasty.
Update 9/10/24: Riley got antsy last night so Barb took her out on a leash where they flushed a BFA (big fucking armadillo). She called me and I grabbed the .12 gauge. Boom.
If you live near the woods you’re gonna have critters. Deer, turkeys, rabbits, squirrels. But for the last few months armadillos and possums have been roaming around in the wee hours. I think I hit an armadillo last week based on the dead animal smell that lingered for a few days. The armadillos can do a lot of damage to a yard, flower bed… even the foundation of your house. And they can give you leprosy. Kelly Wildlife Control trapped one a couple of nights ago (photo above).
And we have a big groundhog terrorizing the neighborhood (Groundhog burrows can undermine building foundations). He’s got a burrow under the deck of the Annex but has so far avoided the traps.
Barb spotted this rascal while watering flowers next to our deck. Somehow she managed to snatch him up with the nearby snake-grabber…call me…while keeping our two dogs back. What a woman. Third one of the summer.
One of the best parts of living on wooded property is the wildlife. Deer, squirrels, birds…and turkeys.
Our resident chipmunk has been Riley’s Great White Whale and it’s been a lonely chase. Until now.
In a previous post I expressed some concern about the fate of momma deer. Hadn’t seen her in a while. This is her sauntering across the road in front of our house. And I believe she has started using the hiking trail.
Don’t know if it was the heat (triple digits) or the wildlife-friendly aura I project, but two fawns were relaxing in our front yard. Riley was climbing the walls so I finally had to let her out which sent the deer back into the woods.
I’ve been seeing the title guys without mom and was getting concerned something had happened to her. But she was checking out my hiking trail this morning so all is well. Probably my imagination but this small family seems more and more comfortable around people.
One of our resident Black Snakes has been sniffing around the garage door and we keep chasing it away. Don’t want to open the car door and find this guy curled up in the driver’s seat.
The door in the photos below is to my tool room in the Annex. Guarding the door is our resident Black Snake, Murray. 
Wikipedia assures me Murray is a “good” snake (my word, not theirs);
Rat snakes live in a variety of habitats; some overlap each other. Rat snakes are excellent climbers and spend time in trees. They live in habitats ranging from a rocky hillside to flat farmland. It prefers heavily wooded areas and is known for having excellent climbing ability, including the ability to climb the trunk of large mature trees without the aid of branches; the snake is also a competent swimmer. During winter it hibernates in dens, often with copperheads and timber rattlesnakes. This association gave rise to one of its common names, pilot black snake, and the superstition that this nonvenomous species led the venomous ones to the den.
While Black Snakes are harmless, I give this guy a wide birth because… well, he’s a snake. Like the article says, where you find Black Snakes, you’ll find copperheads. I killed at least a dozen last summer. Fortunately, they tend to stay on the ground. Like Indiana Jones, I hate snakes. But they’re part of rural living, so…
Surrounded by woods, we usually seem some Copperhead snakes every spring and summer. I hate snakes. And when I see ’em, I kill ’em, lest they bite one of our dogs. Not that hard to chop off a head if you happen to have shovel or hoe handy (you never do). By the time you drag the dog inside and find an implement, the snake has escaped.
A couple of years ago I bought a “snake grabber” and keep it next to our deck since that’s where they tend to hang out. You can grab the bastards and lock the grabber while you find something to send them to snake heaven.
It’s an unpleasant experience and a while back I purchased a .22 revolver and loaded it with snake rounds. Instead of a single lead slug, it’s like a tiny shotgun shell filled with little pellets. Can’t miss, right? Well, yeah, you can. Once a year I take the pistol out and fire a round, just to keep in practice.
This was less than three feet away and I managed to miss the snake’s head. So our first line of defense will probably be the grabber and a shovel.
UPDATE June 5, 2021: Riley spotted a Copperhead early last evening. About 2 feet long. Used the snake grabber to hold the thing while I sent it to snake heaven with a shovel.
