Current Mood: Alarmed

Yeah, that’s our roomie. Caught him on camera!
Behold, our roommate. It’s a groundhog. We weren’t told that we were going to have a roommate when we moved in. Wee lad has decided to name it Betty. I sure hope it’s not female. Wanna know what a groundhog is? It’s the largest critter in the rodent family, can grow up to 30 lbs, and burrows really freaking deep. More here.

I really wouldn’t mind it being in the yard, except that it’s taken up residence under our porch. It’s “outside” entrance is directly under our gutter drain, it’s “inside” entrance is under the porch somewhere. We’ve tried flooding it with water and pouring ammonia into the hole. Flooding only scared out a frog, and it got rid of the ammonia by digging out the stink.

Groundhogs also tend to reuse their burrows, and if you shoo one out, more may come back later. Apparently the best way to keep them gone is to put down iron rebar and cover it with concrete… That’s pretty freaking extreme, especially considering we’ve got to do it under the porch!

Next we’re going to call the state conservation department to have them set traps. I can’t justify the expense of a trap to get rid of this thing, plus the hassle of disposing of it in a “proper” area.

And for your lolz (yeah, you’re amused at my distress, it’s okay, I’d be laughing at you if this was you), I present a song someone with the same problem as me, but infinitely more musically talented.