Friday's Hunt...

"Starts with W"...

Waging War against Woodchucks...otherwise known as groundhogs to most of us around here.  Destructive varmints...farm equipment damaging varmints (think about what happens if a tractor wheel drops into a hole)  ...crop eating varmints.  You get the picture.  Here's an active hole that I found this afternoon.  You can tell it's active by the claw marks on the side of the hole, where they've been going in and out today...

They've already been eating at the soybeans that were planted last Thursday!!  Click on the picture and you'll see where they've eaten the tops off the tiny plants.  Unfortunately, they won't grow back...

Hopefully woodchucks  like watermelon and spinach.  I set four traps, and hopefully this time they'll take the bait.  For some reason this spring we haven't caught anything other than two possums and a cat...

Week's favorite...

I had a lot to choose from this week, but ended up with this one of the rows of corn, tall enough to be seen easily as we drive by.  This corn was planted exactly one week ago today!  I can hardly believe that it's this high already! The weather has been perfect for growing this week...

The last prompt is "rough"...

This fellow had a rough day today...

I passed it on the road not far from home, but didn't know if it was dead or alive.  When I backed up to get a closer look, he/she started moving.  I got a crowbar out of the truck toolbox...because I didn't have anything else with a long enough handle (!!!) and tried to move it off the road into the grass. There was a drain pipe running under the road with some water in it, and I figured that's where he/she must have come from.  I wouldn't expect to see a snapper too far from water.  He/she was definitely not happy with me, but finally I got it off the road.  There was quite a bit of traffic, and I'm sure some of those people wondered what in the world I was doing.  Those jaws were mighty strong!  I'm glad I didn't make the mistake of trying to pick it up to move it, or I'd be minus some fingers!

That was the last thing I expected to see today!

I'm joining with Teresa for Friday's Hunt again this week.  Have a great weekend!

Random Five Friday

Here is a smattering of what has been happening here this week...

1.  I hate bats.  I really, really hate bats.  Yesterday morning when I came in from the barn, Eric had left a note taped to the window, pointing out a bat that he had trapped between the screen and the glass.  First one of the summer, inside the house.  Did I mention that I hate bats?!

But...I was nice to it, although it took everything in me.

2.  We have two adorable kitties right now, that are spoiled rotten.  This one, Lulu, has a really persistent meow, and she's taken to climbing up either my mop or the rain spout, and hanging on the screen, begging to be left inside...

Did I mention that she's spoiled rotten?!

3.  We caught three ground hogs beside the soy bean field.  Yesterday, the end of the field was replanted...the critters ate almost half an acre!!

4.  Jim's been thinking ahead...we have at least three more hay cuttings to go, and we need more room for round bales, so he started stacking a few of them.  We've been seeing quite a lot of this...

5.  A garden update...I've been picking green beans, a few cucumbers, zucchini, digging some new potatoes, pulling red beets, and a second planting of radishes is doing well.  The weeds are growing... "like weeds!"... as we've had several inches of rain in the past week, and the heat and humidity are rising.

Happy Friday!

Linking up with Random Five Friday

Second Cutting Hay...and "the Culprit"...

Finally...a nice stretch of sunshine to get some dry hay baled!

Jim mowed the new seeding of alfalfa along with the second cutting of the older fields a few days ago, and began baling this afternoon.  Several of our neighbors, along with Eric, unloaded 3 1/2 loads of nice dry hay this evening after milking.

The guys in the hay mow had their routine down, and the wagons were emptied relatively quickly...

When he was finished baling, Jim joined them...he hopped on the wagon and threw the bales onto the elevator.  This was the last wagon...

Several new layers of hay on top of first cutting...

After the wagons were emptied, we took them down to the meadow and shoveled the loose hay into the racks for the cows bedtime snack.  They got a little impatient, and started eating right off the wagon...

 The empty wagons are lined up for baling again tomorrow...

And now...the moment you've been all been waiting for...(yeah, I know, I'm going a little overboard, but oh well...when we catch one of these we're happy!)

The culprit that's been eating the beans...

...is a groundhog!  Actually, we think it's a whole family of groundhogs, but this is the only one we've caught so far.  I hope he enjoyed his meal feast!