User blog:Happywolfpuppy/Groundhog/What Would You Do?

[INSPIRED BY KAT2WIND2ARCHER'S POST]

[AND BY REAL LIFE TOO]

SO a long time ago, my father and I started a vegetable-plant-fruit garden thing.

We build a fence around it to keep away the deer. We sprayed a bit of anti-rabbit stuff around the fence, and we also added a bit of anti-groundhog stuff too.

We have a lot of groundhogs where I live, and they're pretty aggresive. Once, my dad was poking one with a stick, and it just growled and stood there, then charged at my incredibly frightened father (lol, that was hilarious).

BUT somehow, them groundhogs get into the garden anyway. I think they tunnel, because we found a bunch of holes-tunnel-things near/in the garden.

They eat everything.

Except for the green onions. All that work building a fence and a raised bed, all for just onions.

Great.

My father got angry, so he set up a trap to catch groundhogs. One way in, no way out.

After two years, we finally caught one.

We wanted to call Animal Control, but where I live, the prices are sky-high.

"Hey, can you pick up a groundhog?"

"Sure, ma'am. That'll cost 250 [United States of America] bucks."

"Uh, nevermind." *hangs up*

Also, when they 'pick up' a groundhog, most of the time they don't set it free somewhere else.

They euthanize it.

Euthanizing is when you purposely put it to sleep so it never wakes up.

Do you want to do that to that little fella? Just trying their best to survive the cruel, cold wild.

And yes, it is cold where I live, and most of the plants are poisonous to eat,

which is why the animals go for the gardens. They're so skinny.

And yes, I am somewhat an enviromentalist, but more on the animal side.

Now we don't know what to do with it.

Kill it?

Free it?

Leave it in the cage to starve?

If I had to make an immediate decision, I'd free it because I'm not a good farmer.

But I don't need an immediate decision, just one that won't take too long.

​....What would you do?