Groundhogs Reign Backyard Sanctuary By Peggy Frailey Area youngsters are taking an unusual field trip these days to a mini wildlife sanctuary, nestled in the midst of a residential area, where they can watch at close range the antics of a family of groundhogs. School children have been turning out by the hundreds to see Jessie Nissley’s little sanctuary, located at 532 Pomtview Ave., Ephrata, just a hop, skip and a jump across the New Rothsville Road. There they line up at the big windows at the back of Jessie’s house, looking through binoculars she keeps on hand, listening to the story she has written about her friendly whistlepigs, and watching slides and movies she has had made of the several generations of her groundhog family. Usually viewed down the barrel of a shotgun, groundhogs normally make sure humans don’t get within a hundred yards of them at the very least. But the families of groundhogs in Jessie’s preserve have been so protected and well fed that they not only take their chances with the humans, but put on a regular show for their audiences. Seeming to appear from nowhere (actually they are coming out of their nests in the small woodsy bank at the back of the yard), they mosey from carrot to cab bage leaf, climb up on a feeder station, squat on their hind legs grasping their bounty in little black paws, and pose in the sunlight, turning this way and that, all the while chewing away ’ contentedly on whatever COMBINATION & the 3 P's Rpt. 96% +1169M +22BF DDftmimnM USDA, 5/75 RIP 32% Rpt. 96% rllwl/UV I IwH 531 D , 797 R , 334 H. 16.181 M 3 54% 5738 F PD _ +1.169M -.13% +22BF PROFIT "MILIY" & "SNOWBOOTS" ncmrncE Sire; Ja-Sai Skyliner Belina, Ex GM PtPlwKtt a son of Snowboots wis Milky Way EX97-GM “Snowboots" the dam of “Bootmaker” Dam: HARBORCREST ROSE MILLY Ex97-GM BBS "I believe this is my best side,” this young whistlepig seems to be telling feast Jessie has prepared tor them. Their favorite are the big carrots Jessie cuts m half for them about 75 pounds of them a week. They clutch these like a baseball bat, sometimes like a flute. Some of the carrots are bigger than the baby groundhogs, but eventually the little rascals get them whittled down to size. Another favorite is cab bage they hold the big leaves like a slice of bread and chew right down into the center of the leaves, like a 29 H 1960 Paclamar COMBINATION. EX-GM 1/74 Contact Your ABS Genetic Engineer Bangor, PA Denver, PA Stewartstown, PA Holtwood, PA Landisville, PA Milton, PA Muncy, PA Newville, PA Port Murray, Ni Reedsville, PA Richland, PA Schwenksville, PA Thomasville, PA West Grove, PA child trying to avoid eating his crusts. And for dessert watermelon. Not the rinds, mind you, they only like the red part. They hold the slices of rind in both paws, and dive right mto the meat. The whistlepigs share their sanctuary with a chipmonk, some gray squirrels, rabbits, and a variety of bluejays, car dinals, morning doves, finch, the tufted titmouse, nuthatches and wood peckers, all of which keep up a continual flurry of activity Rpt. 96%+581 daughter income superiority over herdmates Eric Heinsohn Darvin Yoder Marvin Joines Paul Herr James Charles Marlin Bingaman Ronald Vandine Randall Hinkle Robert Kayharl Glenn Barr Paul Martin William Shainline Ira Boyer Maurice Stump the photographer as it poses on top of a box of carrots. 215-588-0579 215-267-3501 717-993-2281 717-284-4592 717-898-8694 717-742-8408 717-546-6903 717-776-3811 201-689-2605 717-667-2775 or 717-935-2211 717-866-4228 215-326-2337 717-225-3758 215-869-9187 in back and forth across the yard. Like most of us, Jessie used to think of the groun dhog as a nuisance creature, a threat to the home gar dener and a devastation to the farmer. But she became seriously ill several years ago, and as SPECIAL OF THE WEEK 300 GALLON JAMESWAY The Mueller Models "OH" and "MHL” with HiPerForm make all other bulk milk coolers obsolete. If you are in the market for a bulk milk cooler and you don’t check all the advantages of the Mueller Models “OH” and “MHL,” you may be buying an obsolete cooler. V ' v ' v 7 425 gal. Esco 050 . (1) 300 gal. Jamesway 300 gal. Mojonmer ga • New 18 can (Can Coolers) gaL Esco 400 gal. Universal Vac. Tank QUEEN ROAD REPAIR Box 67, Intercourse, PA 17534 OR Answering Service 354-4374 24 Hour Service We Stock Hess' Farm Supplies, Check Our Prices on Animal Medications mcaster Farming, Saturday, August 2,1975 a diversion, would sit at the window off her yard and watch the antics of a par ticular baby groundhog which she named Grandy. She began putting out food for Grandy carrots, cabbage, corn and as the little creature became bolder, it brought its family to share in the feast. As Jessis tells the story, Grandy fell in love with “the handsomest groundhog of all,” and by the following spring, there was, naturally, a whole new crop of baby whistlepigs to entertain Jessie. Neighboring children started coming to watch this unusual spectacle, soon teachers were bringing whole classrooms of children there on field trips. Jessie’s health improved, but instead of losing interest in her new little friends, she became even more fascinated by them. “The groundhog is the only animal that has a day named for it,” she says. “But most people don’t know how sweet they really can be.” “To tell the world,” Jessie wrote a story about her groundhogs, had ceramic molds of them cast, had a silk screen pattern of them designed for T-shirts and sweatshirts, even had bumper stickers made. She added a little souvenir shop to her patio area, named it the Gourmet Groundhog, and pledged 50 percent of any money she made in the shop to charity. She gets hundreds of thank you letters from children who have visited her sanc tuary, gets phone calls from people all over the county, including farm v&men, < ** - r.. ))lm USED BULK TANKS After SPM JOHN D. WEAVER 656-9982 - KENNETH M GROFF 354-0473 GID DIENNER 768 8521 Hostetter attends seminar Elmer Hostetter, Manheim R 4, was one of 12 agricultural area managers representing a 30-state area who took part recently in the first of a series of a special building training seminars held by Superior Modular Steel Building Systems in Mattoon, 111. The special seminars are designed to help Superior’s area managers become more effective in helping its dealers find solutions to building problems. As part of the in-depth indoctrination in field erection techniques, the area managers actually erected and dismantled a Superior building module. Emphasis during the class sessions was on solving actual construction problems that could arise in the field. Area managers were confronted with specific field problems and challenged to come up on the spot with workable solutions. Ever hear the one about the guy who is so forgetful that one night he put his cat to bed and put himself out side He did not discover his mistake until a dog chased him and he found he couldn't climb a tree interestingly enough, who want to know if the things they have heard about her groundhogs are really so. And they are. Whether you’re young or old, a visit to Jessie’s little sanctuary is a treat you’ll remember for a long time. ■IIm n ■ Phone 717-768-7111 , 13 Forget It \ ' ' *t*
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