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In reply to the discussion: Finally got a picture of the villain who has been vandalizing my herb garden [View all]packman
(16,296 posts)I retired back to my hometown area in Pennsylvania a few years back. Had a nice house in a development of older homes and I had a shed on my back yard for tools, garden equipment and such.
One day I noticed a movement under the shed and it was a groundhog. An elderly, big one and he was in bad shape. Looked beaten up, and bloody perhaps from an encounter with a dog. It was suffering and obviously in pain.
Not being used to what should be done, I called over my older neighbor and asked for his advice. He took one look at it and said, "shoot it". and offered his gun. My bleeding heart wouldn't hear of it. There had to be an alternative.
I called my wife who was working at a vet's office and she asked the vet who suggested, "shoot it".
Then I called the country wildlife people, hopefully they would trap it-treat it and release it to the wild. No, they considered ground hog a nuisance and varmints. The advice, "Shoot it"
At this point, it was late in the afternoon. I decided to take matters in my own hands. Got a blanket, some spray on medication, a bowl of water and went back to the shed. I was not about to shoot it. But, nature done its thing and the poor beast was dead. I got a shovel out of the shed and buried it in the backyard.