Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2019 - 5

LETTER

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE GROUNDHOG KIND

T

hank you for your interesting article about groundhogs (Groundhog
Day, Creature Feature, January/
February 2019 issue). It is mostly
true, as Justin McVey, of the North
Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission, says of them: "They're
going to scurry off [if they see humans].
It's just like any other wildlife. You need
to observe it from a distance."
But, I've had two close-up encounters
with these cute critters, one in the spring
of 1997, and the other in July 2017.
The 1997 encounter involved a
mother groundhog and her family that
lived under a pre-Civil War-era granary
on my family's farm. One warm May
morning, I walked up to the burrow
under the granary. Four little groundhog
kits shyly peeked out at me, milk around
their mouths. They had been nursing!
The second close encounter came
when a groundhog that lived under

my utility building, and that I called
Jack because I never saw any little ones
around, was chased by a stray cat up a
mulberry tree in my front yard. I looked
up at the large animal sitting out on a
branch, shaking, and not trying to get
away from me. From my close position, I
could definitely see that he was indeed a
"jack" groundhog!

I caught the cat, which was very
friendly and apparently belonged to
somebody, even though it had no collar,
and took it to the county SPCA. Nobody
called for it, and it was later adopted.
As far as I know, Jack still lives in his
burrow, which I imagine he shares with
rabbits.
-ANGELA WATKINS,
NATURAL BRIDGE STATION, VIRGINIA

Mea Culpa. Our
apologies for whiffing,
by just about a full
month, the 2019 date
for Easter (Mountain
Almanac, Jan/Feb '19
issue), which of course
falls on April 21.

CONTRIBUTORS

Leonard M. Adkins
Five complete Appalachian Trail traverses and
60-plus pieces as Blue Ridge Country's The
Good Walk (formerly The Hike) columnist have
helped earn Leonard M. Adkins the nickname
"Habitual Hiker." An award-winning author, his
20 books include "Hiking and Traveling the Blue
Ridge Parkway" and "50 Hikes in West Virginia."
Paraphrasing an American humorist, Adkins lives
by the motto, "I never met a trail I didn't like."

Cathryn McCue
A Yankee transplant to the South, Cathryn
McCue (former Mountain Report, material for
which is now incorported into Country Roads),
has been an environmental writer for 30 years
as a journalist and communications specialist
for nonprofit advocacy organizations. Her work
has appeared in dozens of state and national
publications. She has hiked, biked, paddled
or cross-country skied most everywhere in the
Appalachian region.

Nancy Henderson
(Creature Feature, Jimmy Cheers), is an awardwinning journalist and author who enjoys
writing about interesting people and places. Her
work has appeared in Smithsonian, The New York
Times, The Wall Street Journal, Southern Living
and many other publications. An avid flower
gardener and nature enthusiast, she's written
the Creature Feature column for Blue Ridge
Country since 1998.

Angela Minor
Angela Minor (Planting Native) is a Master
Gardener and avid birder. She has lived, traveled
and birded across the United States, Alaska,
the Caribbean and seven European countries.
She writes for magazines including Blue Ridge
Country, Ft. Myers Magazine, Oklahoma Today,
and others; serves as Field Editor with Birds
& Blooms and "Park Watch" Beat Writer for
10,000 Birds; and authors the Bird Watcher's
Digest state park birding series.

MARCH/APRIL 2019

5
Blue Ridge Country - March/April 2019

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