Groundhog

A study by Iowa State University found that the use of ethanol reduced the wholesale price of gasoline by an average of $1.09 per gallon last year.  Without ethanol, gas prices at the pump could have been close to $6 per gallon!
Thank a corn farmer!

Groundhogs are rodents.  They are very good diggers and they burrow in and around our sheds and old buildings.  Their burrows can be large with up to 40-45 feet of tunnels, up to 5 feet deep, with 2-5 entrances.  This undermines building foundations and can be damage machinery parked over them.  They make a mess with the piles of dirt they leave from their digging.
They are mostly herbivorous, eating berries, flowers, grasses, soybeans, alfalfa, and other vegetation.  They are a nuisance.

Monday, nephew Troy saw one in our front yard.  By the time I got the gun, he had crossed the road and was in the neighbor's front yard.  We couldn't flush it out into the open, so he got away.
Today, Gus trapped him under daughter #2's car.  My wife and daughter called me out of the hog house, and fetched my gun for me.  With D #2 screaming, "Don't shoot my car!, Don't shoot my car!", and my wife trying valiantly to subdue Gus, we tried to flush it from under the car.  It was too scared of the dog to leave.
I didn't think it would be a good idea to use the shotgun under the car, so D #2 retrieved my pistol and tried to load it..  And tried again to load it.  And again.  I couldn't help because I didn't want to take my eyes off of the rodent.  After several minutes passed, the groundhog decided to chance an escape while the dog was temporarily under control, and was quickly dispatched with the shotgun. 
Gus was overjoyed with this new prize, much like he was with his prize rat!  He played with it all day, and he won't let us take it away from him!

Gus and his groundhog.

On Monday, I dug out a stump from a hedge tree (osage orange) which my brother had cut down last week.  We are widening the driveway to make it easier for semi's to enter and exit.  It must have taken 2 hours of digging and cutting roots before I was finally able to pull it out. 

And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, in the tender grass of the field; and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times pass over him;
Daniel 4:23