The Pride of Howard County

by Kevin Bachman

  Chapter 5

  Lucky was half asleep on the porch when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye. It was her mortal enemy the groundhog out in the yard munching on some delicious clover. Lucky could hardly believe her luck. Mr. Groundhog was dangerously out of his safety zone and the dog knew it. She instantly began to formulate a battle plan. She rose slowly and crept off the porch trying to minimize the sound of any boards that might creak. Once off the porch Lucky went the long way around the house, as she approached the corner of the house she slowed to a crawl. She then peered around the corner with one eye, focusing on the vermin still totally unaware of the imminent danger he was in. For a moment she watched him pleasantly munching on the clover. The dog’s blood pressure skyrocketed. To her delight she knew her initial reading was correct, he was out of his comfort zone and with a little luck and good execution she could have victory in this war. Lucky’s belly dragged the ground as she advanced around the corner and slid down the side of the house towards the enemy. Lucky would freeze with anxiety when the hog raised his head but spotting no danger would go back to grazing clover and Lucky would resume her approach. The warrior knew that if she got close enough she could cut him off at the pass before he reached the safety of his fortress under the farmer’s barn. Lucky’s ears were flattened, her eyes were fixed, her muscles strained against the temptation to rush forward and kill her nemesis.

  The groundhog moved in a couple of years ago after finding the perfect home site under the barn. With some excavation work he had built himself a nice home. He was young then but is now a fully grown beautiful groundhog.

  He was born a few hundreds yards away in a lovely den among the rocks along the Big Piney River. He and a brother and a sister were raised by their mother but he lost touch with them when he ventured out into the world. There were a couple of lady groundhogs that lived nearby in which he romanced from time to time and yet like all groundhogs he preferred to live a solitary life, eating in the morning and evenings and taking long naps in the afternoons. He would just like to be left alone and would have had the perfect life had it not been for that darn dog that lived in the farmer’s house.

  When the enemy raised his head that last time Lucky froze. The hog’s instincts told him something wasn’t right. He checked the air for any scents of danger, his eye sight wasn’t good but his nose was powerful and his best defense. Was that dog he smelled? Lucky sensed she was in danger of being discovered but held her position, maybe he would go back to eating the clover and she could inch her way forward.

  Yes, that was definitely dog he smelled but where was it? The groundhog scanned the yard and realized there was something there in the yard but what was it? Had it always been there? Suddenly the groundhog had restlessness about him; he had better get back to the barn. Lucky now sensed the enemy was on to her and it was either now or never. She exploded from her position at the precise instant the groundhog retreated for the barn. The groundhog knew fighting with the dog wasn’t an option, getting to the safety of his den was his only hope and he ran at his top speed. Lucky was in high gear as well.

  The two warriors merged at the entrance to the groundhog’s fortress within milliseconds of one another. The contest had come down to fractions of an inch. The groundhog dove into his hole thinking he had made it when he abruptly stopped. The dog, with one last effort had sunk her fangs into the hind quarters of the beast and had no intentions of letting go. The groundhog dug his claws into the walls of his tunnel and with pure adrenalin was digging for hell as he knew his life was at stake. Lucky thrashed back and forth growling viciously as she tried to unearth the creature. This contest had come down to a life and death game of tug-o-war. There was a thick cloud of dirt and dust on the battle field and the fierce war raged on for a full twenty seconds. Lucky’s eyes and lungs were burning with dust, she hung on for as long as she could before she had to let go and her enemy quickly retreated into the darkness and safety of Mother Earth.

  And so, Mr. Groundhog would live to see another day but his wounds would take a few days to heal and it would be months before he would venture out into the yard like that again. He would have to be very careful not to be as careless.

  When the farmer let Lucky outside to do her business that night she made her usual rounds making sure the coyotes and foxes were of no threat to the chickens. She checked along the edge of the farm yard to make sure no raccoons or opossums were not up to any no good. Lastly, she stopped by the groundhogs home and although he was nowhere to be found she knew he was in there. The hair on her back stood up as she recalled the battle they had had that day. She growled a menacing warning and yet the warrior had acquired a new respect for her enemy. He had put up a good fight. It was a respectful battle they had had.

  The groundhog heard the growl but knew he had nothing to fear while in his fortress. Morning would bring soreness and the soreness would bring memories of the battle with the farmer’s dog. That dog was dangerous and he knew he was fortunate to have only suffered a single bite, he was grateful to still be alive.