As Spring finally comes around this year, the leaves are appearing, and so are the critters. Here at last are some new photos of variety of furry friends sharing our backyard.

Here is Hoover, the greedy chipmunk. These are only four pictures of the dozen I took of him diving repeatedly into the bowl. Notice how full his cheeks are in the last shot. When he finally left (because a squirrel chased him off) he was so full of seeds that they were spilling out of his mouth as he made his getaway.

Imagine my surprise when I pulled the curtain aside and saw this cow-sized critter munching away. This groundhog is not as large as the one we left behind at the other house. But obviously he is working on it. He has been back every day for a full week now, even though the bowl is empty. Right now we are calling him Piglet.

He was getting wise to me by the last few photos. Not that this caused him too much concern. He took a few more mouthfuls of the seed and then slowly lumbered away for the day. He was back later on, and has returned every day since I first spotted him.