One good thing about the snow....

Well,

At least I now know where the cats go during a snowstorm.

• Abandoned shed/building
• Groundhog burrow
• Under vehicles
• Manmade shelter on a neighbor's porch

They're alot easier to track when there are big footprints everywhere...

The groundhog burrow is perplexing to me - I would think they'd get snowed-in, wet or suffocate. I'm going to have to do some research on how those things stay dry...

There's a diagram here:

http://www.hoghaven.com/den.htm

...but that doesn't strike me as appealing to cats...

Our problem is that unless they stay near (which none that are outside now do) it's still impossible to track. Especially with all the other wildlife around here. BUT - we can tell when they've been by!

And re: the groundhog burrows. I don't get it either. And they do get snowed in. Tuxedo certainly didn't dig his way out of three feet of snow covering the burrow he choose to hide in last year.

we thought we caught all the ferals, but after the snow I see some little foot prints...time to start putting food out again and hopefully catch who ever is out there!

So a woodchuck is a groundhog? I've never really thought about it but I was thinking I was looking at a groundhog burrow and it says woodchuck...anyhow...my brain isn't working 100% at the moment so do forgive my ramblings.

I think it could be comfortable. I mean, it's sloped so that water drains out of the burrow and I suppose it's easier to push snow out of a burrow when you're working with gravity. And the poo chamber is up top so any vapours go up and out of the spy hole which could double as a chimney. The nest is at the end of an upwards slope so body heat is kept within it better and I imagine get quite cosy. And the main opening is designed so that snow can't build up inside the tunnel, just pile up at the entrance. And I'm guessing that the spy hole would be rather protected from the elements so only a little snow if any falls into the nest and even it would probably melt due to the warmth in the nest.

Though after saying all that...it would only take a blizzard to dump a fair bit of snow on top of the nest and it would be extremely difficult to get out and more than likely get snowed in. Hmmm...