How a Kind Man Built a Vegetable Garden for a Groundhog Who Raided His Farm
He has sent out a message of coexistence with wildlife
Humans encroach on wildlife habitat and drive out the animals living there. People treat these animals, the original inhabitants, as pests and kill them if they venture into farms and homes.
There are exceptional people, however, who treat these animals compassionately.
Please read this heartwarming and remarkable story about a kind man who treated a groundhog and his family as his guests despite the fact that the animals devoured the vegetables in his garden.
Jeff Permar, a resident of Middletown, Delaware, is a passionate gardener. He loved to cultivate organic vegetables every year and share the produce with his friends.
In May 2019, Permar noticed that some intruder was feasting on his vegetables. He said,
“My sweet potato vines were being eaten to the ground. As time went on, I also noticed chunks missing from several ripe vegetables.”
Permar was out of his house during the day so he decided to set up motion detection camera to catch the trespassers.
The camera caught a squirrel and a possum nibbling on the vegetables, but they were tiny to cause so much damage.
Permar soon discovered the intruder- a groundhog, who stared at the camera nonchalantly as he feasted on the vegetables. Permar said,
“[His] reaction was like, ‘Hey man, what’s up? I’m the one eating all your veggies. Whatcha gonna do about it?!’”. “Like a boss! He was like, ‘Can I help you?’ The coolest, most adorable thing ever.”
Permar named his “guest” as Chunk. The camera caught another uninvited ‘guest’- Nibbles, Chunk’s girlfriend.
Permar put logs under the fence and raised its height. But Chunk and his girlfriend managed to breach these defences.
Permar tried other tricks too:
“I also put out scarecrows, reflective mirrors, dinosaur figures, CDs, and several other desperate items, but to no avail; they were always a step ahead of me!”
How Permar “rewarded” his “guests”
Chunk and Nibbles started having a family, with the arrival of little ones. Permar attempted to feed them, but he realised he had to accommodate them. He, therefore, built a separate garden for them, which had "all their favourites: tomatoes, corn, broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, cucumbers, lettuce, courgette, squash, watermelon, cantaloupe, and snow peas."
Permar's garden also has other "guests" - a skunk named Stinkerbelle, a possum named Posse, and a squirrel named Pesty.
Chunk became a social media celebrity when Permar shared a video of his “guest” chomping a cucumber on Facebook. He has 850,00 fans across the social media. According to Permar,
“People from all over the world tune in. I always get positive comments, like, ‘I’ve had the worst day of my life, but now I’m feeling much better because of Chunk.’”
A fan made a song on Chunk called “Chunk doesn’t eat junk.”
Final thoughts
Permar is not only compassionate to animals; he is an enlightened environmental visionary. He has a message for us:
“If you are ever in a similar situation, learn to coexist. Give them their space and offer up a hand. This is their land too, we just put a garden on it.”
May the Universe shower its blessing on Permar for his exemplary kindness.
Please treat animals kindly.
Thanks for this story.
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