Well, the air quality here is terrible due to the smoke from the fires in Canada. We’ve been advised to stay inside and today, that’s just what I plan to do. We left some of the windows open yesterday and by the end of the day my eyes were burning. They’re all shut now.
I know many of you are experiencing the same thing and, of course, many of you who live in Canada or on the West Coast have experienced this many times. The photos from NYC were eerie.
I do have respiratory problems, so it’s best to lay low for the next few days.
Moving on to a delightful story.
I happened to look out the living room window yesterday afternoon and there was a groundhog standing on his/her hind legs on one of the big rocks that edge the garden. I’ve seen this pose before. It’s an ‘alert’ pose. I told Don that I was watching the groundhog and before I got the words out of my mouth, two babies appeared! I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were emerging from an opening at the base of the big maple, where groundhogs like to hang out. Oh my goodness! Don came over and we proceeded to spend at least 45 minutes watching them. I grabbed my big girl camera with the telephoto lens.
Here’s mama with two babies to the right. She was high alert. At one point, she emitted a sharp whistle and the babies scurried back inside the tree. I’ve read about this whistle but this is the first time I’ve heard it. It sounds like a sneaker screeching on a basketball court. A few minutes later, still standing on her hind legs, another whistle. And boy, did those babies know exactly what to do.
Three babies.
You’ll note they are right next to my garden. I want to get some more metal fencing, but I’m stuck here today, so it will have to wait until tomorrow.
Later on in the afternoon, I opened the front door to the porch and I saw mama and (this happened very quickly) I’m pretty sure I saw SIX babies! They were all running back to the tree.
And even later on, mama was trying to eat some of our grass and one baby kept trying to latch on to her. Do they nurse like most babies? I think they must. This kid was relentless, following mom all over the place. Mom was determined to get some food so she kept shrugging the baby off. Eventually, mom went far away and the baby didn’t feel comfortable following her, so she stayed right by the tree waiting for her.
Oh my heavens, they’re adorable.
But this brings back a memory of the last time this happened and that was many years ago. I was constantly worried about the babies because they would get very close to the road. You know me, I’ll be worrying about them every day. Not to mention my garden.
I like that they’re so close to the house for photos but I really wish they were under the shed for safety. Plus, there’s a lot more grass over there. Who knows, there might be other groundhogs under the shed.
I’ll be on the watch today and hope to get more photos of these little ones.
We’ve sure had a lot of babies on the property this year.
Stay safe.
Happy Wednesday.
.
Adorable!
They are.
Stay safe, Shanna.
How exciting!I am so happy for you. I think I would have passed out with excitement if I had seen baby groundhogs. I have only seen an adult once and that was in the mountains. Thanks for the wonderful pictures of them.
We are supposed to have air quality problems today even in the south. Hopefully, it will clear up soon. The world sometimes seems very small.
It does. It’s positively eerie out there.
Stay safe, Beverly.
The groundhogs are providing some fun entertainment! The vigilance of the mother really comes through in your picture!
I’ve been hearing about the poor air quality from the Canadian wildfires. We’ve definitely had to deal with that several times in the Bay area…it was pretty astonishing to see how poor the air quality could get. Hope the fires are contained soon! Take care!
It was horrible yesterday. Absolutely horrible!
Stay safe, Barrie.
lots of haze from the wildfires here, too. hope the fires can soon be controlled and extinguished for everyone’s sake. and that staying indoors helps you feel better soon.
how great you and don saw those adorable groundhog babies and their mama … and that you were able to get some terrific photos! six groundhog babies?!? wow! can’t say i’ve ever thought about it, but i would have guessed they’d have smaller litters. they sure look sweet.
unless a bluejay’s call or size scares him, most often earl the squirrel has taken his time eating peanuts on the (second-story) deck of my parents’ home, then laid down on his belly looking over the edge of the deck, watching the world go by for several minutes. now, after watching him shove in-shell peanuts in his mouth and immediately run off the deck about fifteen times over as many minutes, we are thinking earl is a father gathering food for his babies. :)
looking forward to a quiet, easy day today. need it.
hope everyone has the kind of day they want and need, too. stay safe!
kathy
Hope you see Earl’s babies!
Stay safe, Kathy.
Oh, Claudia, what a lovely groundhog story. And cute pictures. Lucky groundhogs to have chosen your garden. Nobody is going to take pot shots at them. Hope you’re able to get more pictures. Enjoy your stay-in-side day. We’re doing the same. I’m thinking of ordering a bathing suit for Jessie. We have a little fountain in the back garden she is just itcing to play in. She thinks it’s the Trevi Fountain (that girl reads) and she wants to toss a coin in, lol. Hugs, Elaine
I’ve seen some of those Blythe swimsuits and they’re really adorable.
Stay safe, Elaine.
dear Claudia/Don — incredible pixs — have never seen baby ghogs for real only in pixs. thanks for sharing these — a bright spot in my day. this smoke has made it all the way to ky — it is bad — so sorry for those people experiencing it in Canada. stay safe
It’s terrible! Today should be a bit better, but my goodness, it’s surreal.
Stay safe, Linda.
Claudia, stay in and stay safe from the poor air quality. The California wildfire season has started but so far, no huge uncontainable fires.
Your property is a veritable nursery! Enjoy the little ones.
Thanks so much, Wendy.
Stay safe.
Haze and air quality alert here as well today. Thank you so much Claudia for sharing these baby groundhog pictures. The cutest and I’m so glad you are experiencing this up close.
They are adorable.
Thanks so much, Susan.
Stay safe.
How sweet! Six babies! That mama sure has her hands full. Since you’re stuck indoors with the poor air out there at least you have something interesting to watch.
Take care,
Kay
Exactly. But I don’t watch them too much or I’ll get obsessive about them.
Stay safe, Kay.
Oh, Claudia; your story today with the photos of the groundhogs is just priceless; I enjoyed it so much; brought a smile to my face; thank you; how wonderful that you were able to record the experience; I’ve never seen one (a groundhog much less a groundhog wee one); just a lovely experience for you and Don.
Wow, the national news coverage on TV today about your NY smoke from the Canadian wildfires is really something; as of course a ‘victim’ of wildfire in Southern Calif, I can certainly relate.
You need to be really careful with that bad outside air, Claudia; you and Don both. I saw a woman on CNN or maybe MSNBC, can’t remember where I was channel surfing; but I’ve seen her speak many times during the worst of Covid; she’s a physician. She said this is when you need to keep the air moving inside your home. Keep the air circulating and of course try not to let any of the outside air IN. If you’d gotten an air purifier during Covid, this is the time to use it. If you have central air conditioning (I know you don’t; I don’t think you hauled in your other air conditioners yet?), turn it on; let it filter the air.
Scary stuff. When I inadvertently breathed so much smoke into my lungs and airways the night we were evacuating the 2017 wildfire here (nobody even really knew yet what an N95 mask was; we sure knew a day or two later when the fire department started giving them out to everybody ‘for free’), the damage was already done with me deep inside my ‘chest’; then, we still had horrible, oppressive, blot-out-the-sun smoke for most all of December; there was no way to entirely escape it as you tried to live your life although the Christmas holiday was just ruined, with so many lives altered by their burned-out homes; hundreds and hundreds of people lost their houses. Over five years later, they are STILL rebuilding in my County.
Anyway, I’ve got asthma and the smoke, despite my care in the successive days at the time, did get to me. I was sick for four months afterward, well into March-2018/April; I couldn’t get much relief on my breathing because that particulate matter does something to destroy the cilia in your nasal passages and airways, to where it can’t do its job to ‘filter’ like an air conditioner does for your house; you can pick up other lung ailments and I’m very lucky I didn’t get pneumonia like some people did during the slow, slow healing process.
Just be your usual smart selves, you and Don; the yard can wait; hopefully errands and appointments can; just stay indoors til this passes. Try not to feel confined: Read, do puzzles; play guitar; cook a nice meal; watch some good TV; a movie. Try to relax when smoke like this causes uncertainty and stress. It’s hard to have to go on ‘hold’ but you must stall your outdoor life for the time being. We’ll pray the fires can be ‘out’ soonest.
We can only do what we can do – that is, stay inside, keep the windows closed, and if we have to run outside for a moment, we wear a mask. We don’t have central air. We don’t have an air purifier.
I do have to run outside to water plants today, but the air quality is a bit better today. Yesterday was Very Unhealthy. Today is Unhealthy. Still bad and, except for watering and getting the mail, we’re staying in.
Stay safe, Vicki.
Oh they are adorable! We watch “Walter” or “Wilma” come out from the neighbors’ yard to munch away on a groundcover I “threw” over to that side years ago. I love when they run, with that plump little body on the ground but they are fast! I’d love to have babies. Great photos. We are in Michigan with drought advisories throughout the state. Fires up north and we had one down the road off the freeway that burned a lot of trees. Years ago we had one from a train that lit the brush with sparks. It burned for miles and was terrifying. Please rain here! Take care.
They are very fast! We desperately need rain as well, Penny. The fire danger is on high for NY State because we haven’t had any rain.
Stay safe!
The baby ground hogs sound so cute! Something to keep your mind off of the smoke. You and Don are smart to stay indoors. If you have any indoor box fans, you can buy a furnace filter the same size of the fan and tape it to the front. It helps clean the indoor air. We have had smoke from California fires and Canadian fires and have done this. Hopefully, it helped, but hard to tell. Good luck!
But we’d have to venture out to buy the furnace filter, so that isn’t good either!
Thanks so much, Tana. We may invest in one for the future.
Stay safe.
These little guys are just too cute for school! Oh, that is a lift when everything else feels heavy.
After I read your today’s post, I checked our air quality. We’re in the orange zone — 123, so not too bad, which is probably why I can’t smell it. (I smell neighbors mowing grass, which may be equally awful for breathing.) But there are active fires in W. Ontario and depending onthe wind it could get much worse.
We’re still in the red zone, but we should be down to orange tomorrow.
This has been terrible.
Stay safe, Jeanie.