This cute little fellow let me walk right up and take his picture with my iPhone.
For the past couple years I've watched a big groundhog that has a nest near my driveway, but she was extremely shy and ran away at the slightest sound or movement. I think she was the Mom, but a couple weeks ago my neighbor said he shot one in his garden which would explain why I haven't seen her since then.
Two babies have been foraging in the yard by themselves since they were small, and I don't think they quite learned what to do when a human is around - they usually just freeze and hope I don't see them.
This was the first time I had a camera handy so I decided to see how close he would let me get. When I was maybe 4 feet away he started chattering to warn me to keep my distance. Since there's always the possibility of rabies, I heeded the warning.
For the past couple years I've watched a big groundhog that has a nest near my driveway, but she was extremely shy and ran away at the slightest sound or movement. I think she was the Mom, but a couple weeks ago my neighbor said he shot one in his garden which would explain why I haven't seen her since then.
Two babies have been foraging in the yard by themselves since they were small, and I don't think they quite learned what to do when a human is around - they usually just freeze and hope I don't see them.
This was the first time I had a camera handy so I decided to see how close he would let me get. When I was maybe 4 feet away he started chattering to warn me to keep my distance. Since there's always the possibility of rabies, I heeded the warning.