Orville

We have a guest that checked in around the end of July. He hasn't paid and probably won't. His name is Orville and he is currently living in the woodpile. You see, Orville is a woodchuck : )

He's a cute little thing, quite shy and retiring. But he is one mighty powerful digger! He's made a few exits for himself under both Aspen and Spruce. In fact, if he keeps that up, we'll be forced to trap him and relocate him.

He also has a voracious appetite! Good thing he prefers clover to garden veggies...I did catch him eating a kohlrabi leaf one day. I stepped out onto the deck to scare him. He just looked up at me and continued munching. I started down the steps and he decided to back away—but he didn't drop the leaf that was in his mouth!

Since then, I've seen him periodically munching on a leaf here and there, but not too much. He really does prefer the clover that is all over in the yard. One day I saw him sitting in between the garden beds, ignoring all the lettuce and munching on the clover instead. No problem, eat as much as you want : )

About 2-3 weeks ago, we had some painters staying in Spruce for the annual Plein Air event. It was great fun watching them paint the scenes around the town and cabins. One of them, Tom, tried to capture Orville on canvas. He told me at one point, "I'm not sure what it is, but it isn't Orville!" about what he had done. He said he would continue to work on it at home and send us a picture of it when it was done.

The picture arrived yesterday. Here it is. I think it captures Orville nicely.

Just so you know, Orville has settled down and isn't making any new excavations...maybe you can see him if you come and visit us : )