The vegetables in Jeff Permar’s garden in Middletown, Delaware, were being eaten, and he was desperate to catch the culprit. Additionally, it wasn’t just a little nibbling here and there. Permar claims that in his 20 years of gardening, he had never witnessed such severe destruction: “Everything I was planting was getting chewed to shreds.” He installed a motion-detecting camera nearby and waited since he believed the offender lived underneath his shed. The camera eventually caught footage of the animal responsible for the majority of the damage: a groundhog that Permar called Chunk—after also catching a few other greedy creatures. In front of the camera, the daring animal grabbed a piece of produce and began to eat it.
Chunk “looked directly into the camera like he was saying, ‘Yeah, I’m here,” as Jeff recalled. My diet includes your garden. Are you going to do anything about it?
Chunk wasn’t a picky eater, but he did have a voracious appetite. He could be seen eating almost everything in the garden, including apples, tomatoes, carrots, and broccoli, on camera. Permar acknowledges that he was first a little annoyed, but that none of his strategies, including erecting a fence, to stop Chunk were successful. All of his attempts proved fruitless, especially after Chunk started bringing his fiancée along to partake in the loot. The two courageous groundhogs soon won Permar over, though, after seeing the amusing footage of the two creatures gorging on their food over time.
“They’re just trying to survive, just trying to make it out there in the wild,” he adds in response to his change of heart. I’m all for it if I can do my job to keep them safe, protect them, and extend their lives. At that point, he came up with a bold plan: “I’ll give them their own garden.”
When the groundhogs entered their hibernation, Permar started putting the surprise together. As usual, he built his own garden, made it as secure as possible to keep the animals out, and then specifically planted a section for them. Permar was eager to observe the animals’ reactions after spending so much time planting not one, but two gardens. He says, “I was looking every day, wondering if he was going to come out today.” Chunk and his fiancée, Nibbles, whom Permar named, did indeed emerge from the shed in the early spring. The two were happy with their garden and frequently visited to eat the fresh produce. Then, not very long after, their family expanded—Permar observed young groundhogs appearing on the video.
He giggles, “Now, I literally have five groundhogs coming in and out.
Permar made a YouTube channel for Chunk and posted the video from the camera, figuring that other people would certainly love seeing the groundhog family as much as he did. According to Permar’s channel bio, “We all coexist.” “I only planted a garden there, but this is also his land! Munch away, then. When the other groundhogs began to show up, the kind gardener even erected a picnic table close to the entrance to the groundhogs’ residence beneath his shed, where the creatures do in fact congregate to enjoy their meals and snacks.
Check out some of the videos of Chunk, Nibbles, and their small family enjoying their goodies by scrolling down, then visit the other “Chunk the Groundhog” social media sites for regularly updated stuff that will make you smile.
Gardener Jeff Permar installed a motion-detecting camera to capture what was eating his garden after realizing the animal living beneath his shed was also eating it.
It turned out to be a very bold, very hungry groundhog, who would look directly into the camera while chowing down on Permar’s garden produce.
Despite his best efforts to deter the groundhog, whom Permar named Chunk, the determined animal continued to ravage the garden. So, Permar decided to plant him his own garden instead.
Chunk started bringing his girlfriend, Nibbles, to share in the spoils. After that, it wasn’t long until they were baby groundhogs munching away, too.
Check out some of the videos of Chunk, Nibbles, and their small family enjoying their goodies by scrolling down, then visit the other “Chunk the Groundhog” social media sites for regularly updated stuff that will make you smile.
Gardener Jeff Permar installed a motion-detecting camera to capture what was eating his garden after realizing the animal living beneath his shed was also eating it.
Chunk the Groundhog: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
h/t: [Reddit, The Dodo]
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