A single woodchuck mounted a frontal assault on it, which I eventually spattered into next week with my shotgun. The guilt feelings engendered by this act caused me to erect a 'Woodchuck Shrine' the following year, to which I paid homage to on a daily basis. This, in turn, caused the Great 1985 Woodchuck Pilgrimage to my backyard in which the entire woodchuck population of New Haven County apparently made the trek to my backyard to pay their respects to the bones of the original woodchuck which I had callously slaughtered.

Not wishing to compound my mistake, and winding up with the entire state's population of woodchucks camped out at my door, I sacrificed my entire garden...and also numerous neighbors gardens.. to the extent where I would go to my local supermarket and *BUY* beans to feed my 'guests'. This seemed to placate the Woodchuck Gods, and the swarm departed, leaving two Woodchuck Overlords to oversee my contrition. These were, obviously, a mated pair, who continue to 'bless' me each Spring with tiny 'Woodchucklets' whom delight in my 'booga booga go away' dance, seeing it as some type of demented floorshow, every time they appear.

Now, LAST year, I figured I'd plant them 6 beanplants outside the fenceline, just for them. These they left alone, preferring to go for the 'forbidden fruit' INSIDE the fenceline. So at harvestime I had a total of 6 beanplants that were available to me.

THIS year I got them suckers figured out, I think. I'm either planting my entire garden outside of the fenceline, leaving their sacrificial plants inside, where they're most appreciated. OR.... I'm surrounding their burrow with an entire Woodchuck Garden, that they'll have to walk through, to get to mine. Worse case scenario is that we'll raid each other's gardens, either way I'll get SOMETHING....hopefully, unless they make absolute *pigs* of themselves, and eat both. Which is a distinct possibility considering their other name is 'groundhog'.