Meet Henry.
We call all our groundhogs Henry, but this Henry is smaller than last year’s Henry. He lives under the shed. He likes our grass.
He’s frightened easily. This is what he does when he hears a noise. He’s listening, making sure he’s safe. If he feels threatened at all, he runs very quickly to the ramp on the shed and then he disappears. I’ve seen him peek out, head raised, waiting for an all-clear.
If Don or I see him out there, we will not let Scout out. We try to let Henry dine in peace. We’ve even stopped cutting a portion of the grass near the shed, so he can have more dining options. We’re thinking of making a sign that says ‘Henry’s Pasture.’
Are you ready for your close-up, Henry?
I have to take these shots from inside the house, of course. If I ventured out, I would scare Henry and that defeats the purpose.
I’m glad he’s timid, because it keeps him from venturing too near the road.
Much to my surprise, a recent conversation with Don about Henry revealed that Don always thinks of him as “Henri.” A French groundhog. But, I said, then it would be pronounced differently. Not Henry (HEN ree) but Henri (an REE), with a little French nasality on the ‘n’ and that French ‘r.’
But it didn’t matter. Don thinks of him as Henri but still says Henry. I think of him as Henry.
I just thought you’d like to meet him.
My back is still troubling me, but it’s certainly better than it was. I’m taking it easy, but as you can imagine, I’m itching to DO things.
We think the man who is tweeting about that scam is most likely an innocent person who is retweeting what he thought was a good cause. So I sent him a tweet this morning that thanked him for removing the tweet.
I’m sure that GoFundMe is a good site that helps a lot of people. As you can imagine, I’ve been looking at it a lot in the last few days. Bless them for immediately taking down the site that was using my nephew’s picture. But some of the causes seem questionable. Not questionable as in the obvious scam that would use an innocent child’s picture to raise money for a bogus cause; questionable in terms of what is a legitimate need and what isn’t.
It’s all subjective, of course. But I guess you can say I’m wary of the whole thing. Wasn’t it PT Barnum who said “There’s a sucker born every minute?” Be careful.
The winner of a copy of The Dismantling is Kathy. Congratulations! An email is on its way to you.
New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.
Happy Wednesday.
You most certainly must make a sign for Henry! So cute! I’m sure go fund me.com is meant to be a stand-up organization…but when you had the human nature component….there are evil people out there who think it’s perfectly normal to scam money from innocent people. It becomes difficult to trust, and know which cause is worthy. Glad your feeling better…I’m sure there’s a weed out there that’s just calling your name! ;)
There is, but bending down and pulling them might not be the best thing at the moment. We’ve been getting rain and the grass needs cutting, as well, but Don will brain me if I try to do that!
So glad your back is on the mend, Claudia! We also have a “Henry” that lives under our deck, and he is quite shy. I met him once as I was coming out of the garage and he had poked his head up from the side of the deck to see what was going on. I don’t know who was more startled! Later, I realized I had missed my chance…I had been so startled to see his round face and big brown eyes looking at me I totally forgot I was holding my camera!
They are adorable and quite shy! I’m glad that you have your own Henry!
Hi Claudia. So glad your back is feeling better. Henry/Henri is so cute. We have not seen Steve (our groundhog) yet this year. I fear that he did not make it through the winter. But, I will say that something has been reacing through the screening we have over our letuce/spinach/arugula raised bed and has been dining — primarily on spinach. My husband thinks it might be Steve. We miss seeing him. He would even come out when our cat was outside…the two of them pretty much ignored each other. I’ve been meaning to drop Meredith a note. The whole situation is just so horrible.
Oh, and I wanted to tell you that I just started reading “Howard’s End is on the Landing” and am thoroughly enjoying it — thanks for the recommendation.
I hope it’s your Steve! And I’m so glad you’re enjoying “Howard’s End is on the Landing.”
OK, this is totally crazy, but when I came to the 2nd pic of Henry’s close-up, the picture morphed into a McDonald’s hamburger add. Don’t know if it happened to anyone else, but it sort of made me catch my breath!! As I said, I am on a new computer, so don’t know if I did something to make that happen, but I was only touching the scroll arrow key. Too crazy for that one pic to morph into that particular image.
Anyway, so glad to hear your back is doing better. Quite smart if you still don’t over-do today. Those weeds and grass will still be waiting for you tomorrow or Friday!! And glad to know that the GFM site may have been an innocent mistake. That would certainly be good news!!
That hasn’t happened to me, though it sometimes happens on other blogs. Your cursor may have hit an ad inadvertently. It’s very easy for that to happen.
I think Don could be right. Maybe “Henri” is here in your garden on an US-France exchange program. And last year’s groundhog Henry is basking in a quiet, sunny meadow in Provence right now where a kind French lady who loves animals is taking HIS picture. Have a great day.
I love this scenario! Perfect!
Oh yes, this is perfect in terms of Henry and Henri!!
Did your Henry see his shadow on Groundhog Day? Is he the one we can blame for the horrid winter? LOL
Glad you are feeling better.
Judy
He might be the guilty party, Judy! He’s not talking.
I love that your groundhog has a name!
And yeah, I only fund kickstarter projects if I know the people involved.
Wise choice!
Love the photos of Henry. We have a Henry or Henrietta, not sure which! He/she lives under our tool shed too. Fun to watch! Wonderful weather here in Maine this week for the end of May, 70’s and low 80’s. Hope your back heals soon so you can enjoy your gardening.
Sounds like lovely weather up there in beautiful Maine!
Henry or Henri ~ either is a charming name for such a cutie. Glad you are looking out for him!
Big Texas Hugs,
Susan and Bentley
We are, Susan. We love our animal friends – I know that you do, too!
Comme il est beau!
I can definitely picture a “Chez Henri” bistro in the garden.
Ah! Magnifique!
Love this post and I see him as Henri! (mais oui). Hope the back is better soon and I’m VERY cautious about who I give money too.
hugs,
Linda
Oui, Oui! Don will be happy to hear that. (Still Henry to me….)
We have a lot of groundhogs around here, too. I made the mistake last year of planting salad greens in a big pot on my front porch. One day I looked out my front door, and there was a big, fat groundhog sitting right in the middle of my pot, happily munching on the greens! He (or she) actually ate them down to the stalks! This year, I learned my lesson and planted the greens in smaller pots and put them on top of a table closer to my front door.
I only send money through GoFund me sites if I personally know the person and their situation.
I bet you wish you’d captured that groundhog in a photo! How wonderful, at least to me! Though I know it had to be annoying to lose your carefully planted salad greens. Why is that the animals that eat our flower ad vegetable gardens have to be so cute?
We have a couple of Henrys who wander the back yard down by the creek..they are harmless and fun to watch sometimes..We also have raccoons that come to visit sometimes during the night..we have been known to leave something out for them once in a while just so we can stand at the window and watch them..the little ones are so adorable..I hope this nasty thing is settled now..Mere shouldn’t have such a worry to deal with…
We have raccoons who like to turn over the garbage can and dine. They don’t do it often, but when they do, what a mess! I never see them, though.
If you really want to see them just leave some food out at a window where you can watch..they will eat dog or cat food..that is how we first discovered them..we had left food out for a stray kitty..you may have to stay up late until they show up but you will enjoy the show..I suppose people will say you shouldn’t encourage them but we do it only once in a while and it is such fun to watch..especially if there are little ones..They are beautiful creatures after all and they are only trying to survive like all of us..
They are indeed beautiful and have every right to live and flourish as we do!
No groundhogs here, but some squirrels. For some reason, there have been many babies born this past season, and many survived, despite the drought. Since some of the tallest trees in the neighborhood border my property, they use my back fence as part of their commute to and from their nests.
I just saw two of Henry’s kids! They were dining near the shed and are smaller than Henry. At the same time, a catbird was in the birdbath taking a dip. Ah…..
Henrietta?!
You’d think, being from Texas, I’d be familiar with groundhogs, but I’m not. That critter looks pretty darn big to me. I’m not sure which of us would run faster if we ran into each other!
Oh, you wouldn’t run. They are very gentle and are frightened by we humans.
Hope your back continues to get better and better Claudia!
Henry is a cute little furry!
I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of a ground hog before, except in the zoo maybe.
I would imagine if he spoke… it would be with a French accent, now…thanks to you and Don! ;)
I am hoping you’re right about the person on Twitter… I hope they were just re-tweeting or whatever, I don’t have a twitter.
I also don’t know much about GoFundMe either… but I question some whether they are true needs or not.
Yes, I do too, Pat. What’s a true need and what is merely enabling?
I enjoyed meeting Henri/Henry. I’ve never seen a groundhog in person. As always, your photos are wonderful. Love that pinky-red of the shed. Glad your back is healing.
I don’t know anything about GoFundMe. But I just read about a person who lost a ton of weight. They need skin-reduction surgery so are appealing for donations via this GoFund thing. To me, that’s a matter between your doctor and you, or you and your own pocketbook. A personal matter.