February 2, 2021

Unless the groundhog was very alert and stuck his head out at exactly the right time, he did not see his shadow. Very blustery bitterly cold, and I went out only once, to get cheap cuts of meat at the Sav-Mor to experiment with the hawk, to see if he could be fed like an ordinary bird. When I pulled up in the drive, there he sat on a limb not ten feet from the ground, not moving as I went from car to house. I tossed him a meaty pig joint and–yes– he swooped down and it was gone. One of us has the other trained in the space of a day. It is a glad thing for me. I hope it gets him through the winter, though I hope it doesn’t discourage him from keeping terror in the hearts of the squirrels. Two appointments cancelled, and me twice breathing “thank God!”