One lawn mowed, zero ankles injured
May. 11th, 2008 07:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gerisullivanLast summer, I looked out my office window and saw a fat'n'sassy groundhog surveying the land near the magnolia tree here at Toad Woods. I only saw him once, and never noticed anything in the way of serious issues while mowing the lawn.
Fast forward to this spring. Uh-oh. Early explorations of the yard suggest the groundhogs have claimed the entire south hillside as their domain. There are a couple of big holes in the lawn on the north side of the house, too. At this rate, I'm surprised the furry creatures haven't established an express tunnel through the basement toy room. At least, I hope they haven't....
I quickly lost count. There are at least a dozen holes out there; it seemed like more. Winter and summer burrows, more than one family, the entire groundhog population of the eastern seaboard? I don't know. The coyotes don't seem to be keeping up with them, that's all I can say.
I'm inclined to leave them be and simply continue watching my step when I mow. My usual rule of thumb is that if it's outdoors and not an immediate threat to my safety, I do my best to adjust to and accommodate it. Indoors is my territory. I'll poison mice, shrews, and bugs inside the house with impunity. If it's larger, I'll do my best to relocate it outdoors rather than kill it, but the bottom line is that it's gotta go.
Note to any of the surviving clumps of bluets who may have cracked my password and be surfing LJ on the Toad Woods Wireless: If you look about, you may noticed that the spinning blade of death that passed you by this afternoon took out pretty much every last one of your bluet cousins who had decided that single and free was the better way to be. Learn! Learn and you will continue to grow! Stay in your lovely clumps, close in and easy to mow around. Don't hide beneath the leaves, burst forth in blossom!
I mowed down hundreds, no, thousands of bluets, dandelions, tiny anemones, and violets.The edge of the mower clipped just enough mint that I slowed down to savor taking deep breathes before pushing on to another part of the lawn.
The winter's bumper crop of sticks has been tossed into the woods bordering every edge of the lawn. Blackberry, raspberry, and rose vines did their level best to snag me, perhaps in retaliation for my mass slaughter of defenseless flowers. Five thousand and more steps later, the job was done.
For a few weeks, at least.
Fast forward to this spring. Uh-oh. Early explorations of the yard suggest the groundhogs have claimed the entire south hillside as their domain. There are a couple of big holes in the lawn on the north side of the house, too. At this rate, I'm surprised the furry creatures haven't established an express tunnel through the basement toy room. At least, I hope they haven't....
I quickly lost count. There are at least a dozen holes out there; it seemed like more. Winter and summer burrows, more than one family, the entire groundhog population of the eastern seaboard? I don't know. The coyotes don't seem to be keeping up with them, that's all I can say.
I'm inclined to leave them be and simply continue watching my step when I mow. My usual rule of thumb is that if it's outdoors and not an immediate threat to my safety, I do my best to adjust to and accommodate it. Indoors is my territory. I'll poison mice, shrews, and bugs inside the house with impunity. If it's larger, I'll do my best to relocate it outdoors rather than kill it, but the bottom line is that it's gotta go.
Note to any of the surviving clumps of bluets who may have cracked my password and be surfing LJ on the Toad Woods Wireless: If you look about, you may noticed that the spinning blade of death that passed you by this afternoon took out pretty much every last one of your bluet cousins who had decided that single and free was the better way to be. Learn! Learn and you will continue to grow! Stay in your lovely clumps, close in and easy to mow around. Don't hide beneath the leaves, burst forth in blossom!
I mowed down hundreds, no, thousands of bluets, dandelions, tiny anemones, and violets.The edge of the mower clipped just enough mint that I slowed down to savor taking deep breathes before pushing on to another part of the lawn.
The winter's bumper crop of sticks has been tossed into the woods bordering every edge of the lawn. Blackberry, raspberry, and rose vines did their level best to snag me, perhaps in retaliation for my mass slaughter of defenseless flowers. Five thousand and more steps later, the job was done.
For a few weeks, at least.
