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Citizen complaint of the day: Cutest menace ever in North End community garden
By adamg on Fri, 07/09/2021 - 11:39am
A concerned citizen files a 311 complaint about a havoc-wreaking gopher at DeFilippo Park in the North End:
There is a gopher in the new community garden at DeFilippo Park on Prince Street in the North End. It is deeply affecting the life of the garden, and we would like it to be captured and released in another area please.
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Comments
VARMINT!
VARMINT!
I'd like you to meet my niece, Lacy Underall
Her mother... sent her to us for the summar.
Gopher?
Do gophers even live in New England? Perhaps this is a woodchuck?
More likely woodchuck
You're right but for the wrong reason. Gophers are endemic in the US. However, gophers have hairless tails and woodchucks have fuzzy ones. That is certainly not a gopher tail in the picture.
Can't tell from the picture how big it is but gophers top out around 2 pounds and woodchucks get to 12-13 pounds.
In the BPDA
there are many gofers.
Yup
I spent a good chunk of my childhood (in the Hudson Valley) around woodchucks, and although the critter in the photo is partially obscured, my first thought was "Ain't no gopher." They can be pretty destructive: A family of 'chucks took up residence under my mother's sauna and deck, and chewed it all up pretty bad.
AKA groundhog
Woodchucks are also called groundhogs. Here's a discussion of groundhogs, woodchucks, and gophers.
As a child, I once tried to pet a gopher. Big mistake. It attached itself to my finger and wouldn't let go. A neighbor hit it so it released me. I still have the scar.
I agree. It's a woodchuck.
I agree. It's a woodchuck.
No relocating rodents
Everyone wants the cute rodents removed and "relocated" but you can only relocate on the same property or kill them.
From mass.gov:
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/moving-wildlife
Woodchucks:
https://www.mass.gov/service-details/learn-about-woodchucks
“Relocating wildlife” is a
“Relocating wildlife” is a misleading phrase that placates the conscience of those who don’t know or are in denial of the fact that it most often means a cruel death not only for the trapped animal but for any babies that depend on it.
Euthanasia in a vet’s office is kinder.
Re: “Relocating wildlife” is a misleading phrase... Agreed.
Fortunately this case was resolved in the best way possible, with the animal being left in peace.
"CLOSED Case Resolved. Animal Control reports, sorry we can not remove healthy wildlife and relocate it . It's illegal to relocate wildlife in Massachusetts. - about 1 hour ago #101003846422"
Good news!! Thanks.
Good news!!
Thanks.
Who is the worse menace? The
Who is the worse menace? The creature with the low carbon footprint or the one with the infinitely larger one?
UCLA Particle beam lab working on a fix for varmints
http://pbpl.physics.ucla.edu/About_Us/Bios/Carl_Spackler/
And the rabbits aren't eating all the stuff?
Seriously. Take a step back and look at the options.
Kill the Woodchuck, maintain the habitat, and woodchuck the second will arrive.
Meanwhile, the ravenous rabbits will eat everything for all of them.
The real answer is to take appropriate measures to screen out both of them. That means fencing off the plants.
Relocate it...
... into my arms!!! So cute!!
I worked in a Mansfield office park some
years back that did a nice job of preserving nearby forest and wetlands and keeping old trees and other wild flora near the buildings. We got to watch a new family of woodchucks, mom and kits, waddling around right outside our ground-floor office windows every late spring / early summer. Them little ones were awful cute, usually five or six to the litter, and grew really fast. No nearby vegetable gardens to ravage.