We Lost a Friend
Yesterday, our long-time friend, Buddy the Groundhog, died. He turned 10 this spring, which is at least twice what he would have lived in the wild. I hope he had a good life here. He was brought to Tanglewood as a baby and has been here ever since. Liz, our dedicated animal care volunteer, took care of Buddy from day 1 and after saying goodbye to him during his burial today, will no longer volunteer with us. It was a sad day for everyone- we lost Buddy and Liz. But I appreciate all the people that touched Buddy's life and I think all of the thousands of kids that Buddy helped us teach are grateful they got to meet him. Those of us who spent every day with him have wonderful memories of his antics. Buddy was a personality. He was Houdini- he could get out of any cage or carrier, but he never went far. He knew where his bananas and cheese crackers came from. He could dance, he chewed on things he probably shouldn't have, like pant legs, and he had a habit of trashing his cage like a madman every spring when he "woke up" from his long winter nap. We sure are gonna miss him. Goodbye Old Buddy and Thanks.
posted by Elaine @ 2:06 PM
3 Comments
3 Comments:
Aww...I'm sitting here with tears in my eyes. :( I never had the pleasure of meeting Buddy but it sounds like he touched many. Groundhogs are such interesting animals. There is a family of them living under my neighbors garden shed. At first we only saw an adult but within a few weeks we saw a baby. Our evening ritual was to sit on our porch and watch Mama and Baby. Soon after we saw 2 babies....and another poking it's head out from under the shed. Later that same evening all the babies came out - all SEVEN! They were such a joy to watch! At one point Mama herded all the babies back into the hole....but one defiant baby kept coming back out. Mama would shoo him back in but as soon as she turned her back, out he came. It was the cutest thing! :)
Bless you, Tanglewood, and especially Liz for taking such good care of Buddy all these years. :)
What a great story about the groundhogs. I love riding in the car and seeing them pop their heads up as I pass. The other day I passed a yard that had four snacking on their dinner and just enjoying the sunshine. Buddy must have been a real special friend to all at Tanglewood. Will you try and get another?
Just an update...we have a new groundhog- his name is Digger and he is being handled daily, getting ready to teach kids in the spring. No one can take Buddy's place, but Digger will make his own impact here, I'm sure!
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