Man chased into home by angry groundhog

The McGraths of Hampton, New Hampshire, are used to friendly critters stopping by their backyard, but a frenetic visit on Tuesday morning from their resident groundhog was anything but a welcomed encounter. Gary McGrath was unloading his truck when the roughly two-foot-long groundhog came barreling toward him. What started out as a comical sight quickly turned into a somewhat scary incident for the 65-year-old as he watched the plump animal running at a brisk jog in his direction.

“Out of the corner of my eye I saw something move, then it came running,” said McGrath. “I kicked it away, but then it got back up and came back at me again. I kicked it away again, and it came right back.” That’s when McGrath ran into his garage and shut the door, only to have the groundhog circle around to the other side of the garage and get in through a different open door. “He was out to get me,” said McGrath. “Fortunately he doesn’t run very fast, but neither do I. My first thought was, ‘He’s being awful friendly,’ when he came up to me the first time.

“He’s normally friendly. After he came after me again, I thought, ‘Wait, he wants something.’” The groundhog, which McGrath’s grandchildren enjoy looking for when they come to visit, then bared its teeth as it chased McGrath into his house. It didn’t stop there, as McGrath said it the animal began digging at the glass-and-metal door, furiously attempting to bite and claw its way inside. McGrath’s wife Carol suspects the groundhog was sick due to rabies. The animal was always docile when they encountered it previously, and Carol said she often enjoyed its presence because it would eat the weeds on their property.
“We were lucky,” she said of the “crazy” and “freaky” ordeal. “You’re just in a kind of disbelief when something like that happens.” The couple called Hampton Animal Control Officer Peter MacKinnon for help, watching in amazement as the groundhog continued to dig at the door and a corner of leaf-covered dirt next to the front stairs before MacKinnon arrived. The groundhog also tried to attack MacKinnon when he got out of his truck, forcing him to jump back into the vehicle and slam the door before the animal could get inside. MacKinnon used a rifle to kill the animal after he exited his vehicle, and the groundhog’s body will now be tested for rabies.