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Wednesday August 17, 2011

Gem of the Day: "Everyday is Groundhog's Day At Our House."

~Robin Pressnall~


(Click here to read everything you ever wanted to know
about Groundhogs, but were afraid to ask.)

Dear Small Pawsers,

This is a "just for fun" newsletter that I'm sending before Dale and I leave for a few days of R & R.

As promised, this is the story of my summer of 2011 with, well, with a Groundhog.

Yes, I love a Groundhog.

I've loved this Groundhog all spring and summer. ( I dare ya to keep reading this.)

We've spent many happy hours together.

I've pitched apples to her, and I've loved watching her eat them with veracity!
(Click here to see a short video of Gracie devouring an apple, earlier in the summer)

Sometimes she would fall over backwards, because she was so fat!

Sometimes, she would just sleep.
Click here to see a short video of her sleeping just like a Bichon would!)

I actually thought she was a male Groundhog, so I named her "Grady" (get it? Grady the Groundhog?) until she had three babies and showed the babies to us one afternoon.

We named the babies after the "Fox and Friends" morning crew.

They are Brian, Steve and little Gretchen.

"Gretchen" Gracie's baby girl.

When babies are born in the spring, the father leaves, never to be heard from again.

Click here to see a short video called "Share with me, Mama!" of Gracie and her two boys. Keep watching. You'll see them both.
Gretchen was too chicken to come out of the hole for this outing.
Watch how they all disappear into their hole at the end!

Well, the two male babies have since moved on and have made new holes for themselves, as is the way of male Groundhogs.

The little female baby, "Gretchen" is still here, but she is really a "skitsy baby". She is camera shy, and is scared of her own shadow, pardon the pun!

Dale says that Gracie was here a little bit at the end of last summer, but she didn't come up close to us like she does now.

This summer is my first summer to meet her.

Being with Gracie, for hours upon hours this summer, each morning and evening, was such a joy for me!

Many of our Small Paws newsletters were written while I was out on our back porch, watching Gracie.

Then, three weeks ago, the unthinkable happened. (It's ok, You can keep reading.)

Sally, our Airedale Terrier Kansas Highway Dog Mix, attacked my precious "Gracie".

Gracie would never have hurt anyone or anything. She was practically tame.

You see, Gracie would wander into our back yard from the woods, under our picket fence. :(

On that horrible morning, Sally was out in our back yard with Dale, and she definitely got Gracie in her mouth and she shook her.

Dale was out there when this happened. He thought maybe Gracie was ok since there was no blood and he had stopped the attack IMMEDIATELY.

He said that Gracie had waddled away and disappeared into the edge if the woods.

Oh God. WHERE WAS SHE?? I was all but certain that Gracie had been killed.

She just disappeared after that dreadful morning.

I searched everywhere in the woods by our house in case she was injured and needing a wildlife rehabber.

I had gloves and a crate ready in case.

I didn't see Gracie for 21 days, three whole weeks, after having been used to seeing her several times a day, every day,

My heart was broken and I mourned.

I mean I REALLY MOURNED. (I already know this is nuts. No need to tell me that. I already know.)

We continued to feed Gracie's baby girl.

She was so skitzy that we had to throw the veggies near one of the holes and then go back in the house and be quiet before she would eventually come out to eat.

On Wednesday evening of last week, I went out to do another search for Gracie, or for her little body, as I had done twice daily for the past 22 straight days, (Yes, I traipsed through our woods in 100 plus degrees, getting bug bites, carrying a towel, calling "Graaaaaacieeee". No less than any of you would have done if your Groundhog was missing.)

Well, last Wednesday evening when I went out to do the evening search, GRACIE WAS ON OUR FRONT BRICK SIDEWALK STARING RIGHT BACK AT ME RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR FRONT DOOR!

THANK YOU JESUS! Sally wasn't a murderer after all! (Maybe it was ATTEMPTED murder, but not MURDER!)

Gracie had come home hungry, and she was asking me for apples!

I couldn't believe my eyes. I was just stunned.

I called Bonnie, my friend and our Director of Adoptions, to tell her what had happened. She had heard the waterworks of tears when I thought Gracie was dead.

Even though she couldn't understand a word I was saying because I was crying,
Bonnie GUESSED that I had found Gracie, alive!

She is really thin. (Gracie, not Bonnie. Wait. Bonnie is thin now too, but I digress.)

I really think Gracie was injured and staying in her hole for the past three weeks.

She has lost maybe a third of her body wait*. (Misspelled on purpose to get past the "Lose Wait* " spam blockers)

I know it's Gracie.

I know her every marking, and I know her precious little face, and I know the way she holds her two front teeth. I know my Groundhog.

You know how Bichons all look different but some people think they all look alike?

Well, Groundhogs all look different too!

I ran inside that evening to cut up some apples, screaming at the top of my lungs like an excited tent evangelist, "She's ALIIIIVE! MY GOD HAVE MERCY! Gracie's ALIIIVE!"

Dale came out to see. Spunky Monkey came to the window to see. (Earlier in the summer, I caught Spunky Monkey and Gracie in our back yard together, about 10 feet apart. Monkey was laying down, facing her, with his ears blowing in the breeze, and Gracie was right in front of him, facing him, munching away on grass. I asked him what in the world he thought he was doing and he told me he was just spending time with his Groundhog and that it was a guy thing.)

That evening, I spent the last hour of daylight just softly talking to her, after we had been apart so long.

I told her that Sally would never hurt her again and that we would make sure of that. I told her that I loved her but then again, I always tell her that I love her.

She will come to within about 10 feet of me to eat apples and cantaloupe, and sometimes she'll flop down on her belly, spreading her back legs flat,
like a Bichon on cool tile! This picture was taken back in July.

I was just so grateful, thanking God she was alive and ok.

She is a wild animal and I know she could die or be killed at any time but the thought that it was my dog who may have killed her was more than I could bear.

The thought that she may be injured and needing help was what drove me to keep searching.

After she had returned to me, she brought her baby girl with her the next evening to eat apples with her!

The little girl was much smaller than the two other males, but now she is about the same size as Gracie

I got a quick picture with my phone, tonight, which isn't very good quality but you can at least see them both.

I asked Gracie, (the one standing up, the dark brown one) if that was her baby girl, and the light brownish gray one, (the baby), took off heading for the hills at the speed of light. The baby is still terrified of all of us.

Gracie just stayed there eating her apple.

Look in the center of the picture. Gracie is standing up and the baby is on the ground. The baby is fatter than Gracie is now.


Here Gracie is laying down in the grass, at my feet, eating her apple,
the night she returned to me. I could just watch her for hours.

Click here to watch a short video of her laying down
and eating, right beside my feet

I have GOT to fatten Gracie up before hibernation starts.

NO ONE goes in the back yard now until a "Groundhog Sweep" has been done, complete with clapping hands and vocal calls.

We have CLOSED the doggie door. Period.

I never thought I would love a Groundhog, but I do.

I love Gracie. With all my heart.

I treasure this precious gift from God and I will always remember the summer of 2011.

The summer I fell in love, yet again,

All My Love, Robin

"Gracie the Groundhog Stories" by Robin Pressnall. All Rights Reserved.

Humphrey Sisco
Dec 26, 1993~ Aug 30, 2006

When I first saw this beautiful picture of Cheri Sisco's "Humphrey", I thought it was truly the epitome of what we do, and why we do it. I wanted to use this black and white picture of Humphrey, taken only days before his death due to congestive heart failure, to let those who may be new to Small Paws, know what we do and why we do it. Without Small Paws, Humphrey would have never known love. He would have died in a kill shelter, sick and alone. Because of Small Paws, and Cheri Sisco, he lived, he loved, and he smiled.

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