Who knew ?

[Jeff H]

Had no idea groundhogs could climb. At first glance I thought I had a mutant fox squirrel on the loose.

 

[mattpatt]

Good catch! We don't have them here in NE Texas.

 

[dogghr]

Wow, I''ve hunted them all my life and never knew this. I even looked close trying to prove you wrong but that def is a alien groundhog.

 

[Native Hunter]

Back when I was a kid with squirrel dogs, it wasn't uncommon for the dogs to get between a groundhog and their den, and run them up a tree. I've seen it several times. A fox will surprise you too at how well they can climb a tree that's leaning just a tad.

 

[j-bird]

Yes....yes they can. I have killed one while it was laying on a tree branch sunning itself before. They have figured out that up off the ground they are out of the reach of the land based predators and can get a better view as well. The one I killed I was squirrel hunting and initially thought I had just found the world record B&C class squirrel!!!!! Then I realized there was NO WAY a squirrel possibly got that big. He still got popped! But yes - they can climb trees - I have never seen them way up in a tree - but the one I shot was 5 to 6 feet off the ground......it made a significant "thud"!

 

[Jeff H]

Yes it was a bit shocking to see. I really wasn't sure what I was looking at. Being that I'm more than a squirrels hike away from the nuclear facility I started to try and reason through my picture. It really does look like a humongous red squirrel and I think I'll send it to some city friends and tell them how big we grow things in the country! I 'll need to mention that these squirrels don't fall to a normal shotgun or .22 caliber. Oh, no, these are big bore squirrels!
Finally, I Googled my way into sound reasoning:

 

[j-bird]

Yes it was a bit shocking to see. I really wasn't sure what I was looking at. Being that I'm more than a squirrels hike away from the nuclear facility I started to try and reason through my picture. It really does look like a humongous red squirrel and I think I'll send it to some city friends and tell them how big we grow things in the country! I 'll need to mention that these squirrels don't fall to a normal shotgun or .22 caliber. Oh, no, these are big bore squirrels!
Finally, I Googled my way into sound reasoning:

View attachment 13558

All I will say is that your mineral program seems to have a bright future. Can't wait to see it's impact on your deer......I would however advise that you get a bigger gun!

 

[Drycreek]

I saw the picture before I read the post. I thought, Dayum, what a fat squirrel !

 

[massey]

Wow. Y'all must not have any peach trees. I've shot 4 out of the same tree in one year.

 

[Deadeye]

When I was a kid we had two Collie Dogs that were amazing hunters at catching then killing Groundhogs. The younger one would find one and keep it from it's den while barking up a storm. The older on (his mom) would run to him then take over keeping the G-Hog busy while the younger one would shut up and slowly work his way around the G-Hog as it kept it's attention on the Mom. When he was close enough he would attack and dispatch it within seconds. Saw them do it several times.
One day he was barking while I was out riding my Mini Bike. Sure enough he had a G-Hog Treed. That was the one and only time I've seen a G-Hog up in a tree and I did not know they could climb. I went and grabbed the BB Gun and shot it from point blank range several times before it finally lost it's grp and fell. Dog was on it before it hit the ground. I found out just how tough they were that day, should of brought the .22.

 

[Jeff H]

I saw the picture before I read the post. I thought, Dayum, what a fat squirrel !

Yep, that was exactly my reaction at first.

 

[E_308]

Back when I was a kid with squirrel dogs, it wasn't uncommon for the dogs to get between a groundhog and their den, and run them up a tree. I've seen it several times. A fox will surprise you too at how well they can climb a tree that's leaning just a tad.

Yep we used to tree a few with the fox terriers we had as kids. Those little 15 pound dogs would have their hands full when they caught one on the ground. Good thing they thought they weighed 150 lb!

 

[George]

I knew, I used to monitor Indian rock trespassing thieves from 30 feet. The tree hog was up there a lot.





G

 

[Jeff H]

I knew, I used to monitor Indian rock trespassing thieves from 30 feet. The tree hog was up there a lot.

View attachment 13610

View attachment 13611

G

That's pretty cool. Quite a ways up to be pulling cards. I bet that was fun.

 

[George]

The camera was about 20' up the tree on the bank so I packed in climbing sticks.

G

 

[massey]

Can't grow peaches in Virginia because of them. Saw an entire family of soil swine in a peach tree once.

 

[Drycreek]

We don't have groundhogs, just hogs. On the whole, I'd rather have ground hogs since I've never seen nor heard of groundhogs running in groups of 15/20 and running all the deer off.

 

[Nebraskaz71]

well thats a new one on me, never seen them climb

 

[bigbluetruck]

I knew that, only because Ive seen one do it. Ive only seen a Groundhog 3 times in the last 15 years, the dog pinned one against the foundation of my parents house. They make the most ferocious noise when cornered, they chatter their teeth together, sounds like a demon!

The second one I seen out in the yard and then the dog chased it probably 15ft up into a tree and I shot it, and the 3rd one my dog killed.

Now prairie dogs are everywhere around here.