h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

We yell at animals, who largely don't understand why we're doing it.

Maybe we have an inner need to do this, and the animals react based on their instincts.

Whatever.

When the groundhog was eating my neighbor's hostas, I yelled at it. I just wanted it to go away, which (as I later learned) wasn't likely because the groundhog had its nest under the neighbor's shed.

I still chase it away form my yard when I see it, but it hasn't appeared in a month or two, which suits me fine.

Ironically, it seems to enjoy eating milkweed, which groundhogs aren't supposed to do. I have mixed feelings about this. I did plant the milkweed s that Monarch butterflies could eat it. Okay, if it's there to be eaten, would it matter to the milkweed whether a butterfly or a groundhog ate it?

And, milkweed has deep roots. They can go down nine feet, though I doubt they always do. Local groundskeepers routinely chop off the milkweed, and it routinely refoliates. It's tough.

Gulls are probably pretty tough, too. Oh, well. If people yell at themi n one place, and not in another, they may stick with that other place, unless there's tasty food or good companionship there.