Zoe the Groundhog Catcher!

Zoe and the Groundhog

I can still barely believe what just happened… Zoe just captured a large groundhog and kept it occupied long enough for me to dispatch it. She is awesome!

For the past couple months a groundhog(s) has been living under my deck. Somehow they found this one weak spot to get under it and they dug their hole right at my back door! Every once in a while I’ll see one in back close to the house so I knew they were there, but there isn’t much I can do about it really.

A week ago I purchased a trap and caught one right off the deck steps where they get under it, so I wasn’t sure if that was the only one or not. After what just happened I guess there were more! Groundhogs are very destructive and having them so close to the house has been a huge concern obviously.

Tonight I let Zoe out and after a pause to smell the air she took off and jumped off the back deck. I could see the bushes moving as she ran back and forth. I walked out to see what was happening and the groundhog ran towards me and turned to face her. (I was on the deck, the groundhog was on the ground, but still was creepy.)

Deck Apron

I quickly ran into the house and grabbed a gun. It took about a minute or so to find a bullet and get the thing loaded — I was so excited and nervous. Figuring it would be long gone by now, I walked to the back door and darned if I didn’t see her still keeping it corralled against the deck apron.

I ran to where I saw it before and sure enough it came running towards me until it got trapped at the steps and it stopped and turned around to face Zoe. It was lunging at her and making a kinda growling noise the entire time.

Anyways, it remained still long enough for me to put the muzzle of the rifle literally a couple inches from it. Zoe was not in the path at that point and it was a safe shot so I took it.

I’m always conflicted when this needs to happen. On the one hand doing what I did bothers me. On the other hand I justify it by reminding myself how destructive and unsafe it is to have a possibly rabid creature so close to my house. Ahhhh, the joys of living in the country!

I’m very proud of the way Zoe handled herself through the entire incident. She never tried to kill the groundhog, it looked more like she was toying with it. She never barked or even growled the entire time. As soon as it had been dispatched she stopped and walked up to me and licked my hand (she often does that as a sign of affection, or so I like to believe).

So it is Zoe 1, Groundhogs 0 at this point. Stay tuned for further updates!