Vacation is over. And it finished with a whimper, instead of a bang… yesterday, my back decided I’d done far too much over the last week and decided to enforce a little rest.

So I spent most of the day in my chair, watching movies. Just before lunch, Dave looked out the kitchen window and excitedly told me there was a groundhog in the neighbour’s yard.

While I agreed it was a cool sighting, the neighbour’s yard is too far away for me to get pictures. (Plus it’s creepy to go up the fence with a long lens…), so I stayed in my chair. But a few hours later, I needed to stretch a little, so I went to check on the cats in the catio. I noticed the bird feeder was empty, so I cross the driveway to get it from the pole and refill it… and I came face-to-face with Mr. Hog, who was standing in the middle of the yard.

He froze. I ran back into the house to get my camera. And by the time I got back out, he was gone. I searched under the cars, under the trailer, behind the shed, and all the places I thought a groundhog might go. No sign.

Then I caught sight of a Red Admiral butterfly, and decided to follow it instead. And as I followed it down the driveway, I caught sight of Mr. Hog slipping under the concrete stairs on the side porch.

I gave up pursuit of the butterfly, and nipped into the house. I chopped up my last carrot, and headed back out to see if I could make friends.

The carrots were very enticing, but he decided he wasn’t ready to trust me yet. He snacked on a few carrots, and tucked himself away again. I decided to call him Greg.

After waiting a bit, it was obvious no matter how many carrots I had, he was not going to come out while I was sitting in his direct line of sight, so I moved behind the stairs a little and waited.

That got him out a little further, but Greg is a little on the shy side.

I waited a little while longer, but then that darn Red Admiral came by again, and I decided to give Greg a break and chase the butterfly again.

I followed it around the front of the house, down the side under the maple and back to the catio. I didn’t manage to get a picture, but by the time I got around the other side of the catio…

There was Greg again! He was not as excited to see me, as I was him.

It’s amazing how fast that chonky boy can run. He disappeared behind the shed, and I couldn’t find him again. Greg is REALLY good at hide and seek, that’s for sure!

I’m not sure if Greg will be a regular around here, or if he was just passing through on the way to greener pastures. But you will be the first to know if he makes another appearance! I hope he does.