Who's Been Eating the Lettuce?

This afternoon I was at the farmhouse by the old dairy barns at Creamer's Field.  The Friends of Creamer's Field have planted a garden that is similar to what was planted by Mrs. Creamer back when it was a working dairy, only about a fourth the size as it was back then.  The Creamers operated the dairy farm from 1928 until 1967.  You can check my Labels section in the sidebar to find out more about the dairy and Creamer's Field. 

As you can well imagine, having a garden on the edge of a wildlife refuge can make for some interesting visitors.  It seems a woodchuck has found the garden to be a great place to hang out.  There are three species of marmots in Alaska, and the woodchuck is the species that lives in Interior Alaska.  This is the very same species of woodchuck or groundhog that lives in the eastern part of the country.
He is used to people being around and most of them enjoy watching him as he raids the garden, so he was in no big hurry to find a hiding spot.

We have seen woodchucks in our yard the last couple of years, including one a few weeks ago that visited Marty's shop and got shut in for a while.  Marty had quite a time getting him out as he kept hiding under shelves and in inaccessible areas.  Finally Marty just left the overhead door open and the woodchuck eventually made his way outside.  Once he found himself outside he hightailed it into the woods.  It's amazing how fast they can move when they have such short little legs!