We caught a groundhog!

I was just getting ready for bed last night, in preparation for the final day of my shift (I had yesterday off, which I didn't know until literally the eleventh hour of the previous day) when my mom let me know that there was something in the trap. She didn't know what it was, but it was weird and pissed off.

Well, that's not exactly what she said, but whatever was in there definitely wanted to get out , in a way that the cat and the mystery mammal that we had caught earlier did not.

I grabbed a flashlight and approached the trap. I hoped it wasn't a groundhog. I really didn't feel like going for a ride.

I shined the light into the trap. A groundhog peered out at me.

Aw, crap.

We quickly emptied the trunk of my mom's car - it's larger than mine, and has less junk in it - and laid out a plastic tablecloth as a tarp. We covered the trap with an old blanket. I carried the trap, with its rambunctious occupant, to the car, carefully holding it away from my body.

We went for a little ride.

We stayed within the city limits of Nanticoke, technically. We drove to a remote location several miles away (as the car drives; much closer as the crow flies), well past any residences. We parked on a little industrial side road. I popped the trunk, took out the trap, and, with some trepidation, opened it.

Nothing came out.

OK, I had been through this once already that day. I tipped the trap and tried to dump the groundhog. Still nothing came out.

I shined the flashlight into the trap. The groundhog was holding onto the back of the trap, gnawing on the core of one of the pieces of fruit I had used as bait.

I tipped the trap more severely and gave it a few good shakes. After a while the groundhog got the idea and trundled out.

So now one groundhog has been captured and relocated. How many more can there be? And will they seek bloody retribution for the forced exile of their friend?