A STAR
IS BORN
On Groundhog Day, an antique dollhouse sets the stage for Sidewinder to play the role of Dunkirk Dave. (illustration credit 6.1)
Groundhog Day finally rolled around. At last it was Sidewinder’s big day! Bob and Bill got up long before sunrise. Bill tended to the squirrels and other animals they cared for. He filled their water dishes and fed them. He changed their bedding and gave them medicine. Suddenly he heard a loud clanking noise. It was coming from Sidewinder’s kennel.
“Sounds like Sidewinder wants some food,” Bill said.
“She probably does,” said Bob, laughing. “But today she will just have to wait. She will get plenty to eat once the sun comes up.”
Sidewinder kept up the racket. She banged and banged the heavy hook holding her kennel door shut. CLANK! CLANK! CLANK! Where’s my dinner? CLANK! CLANK! CLANK!
The hook was not a dinner bell. But Sidewinder thought it was. She had learned this trick all on her own. One day she banged that hook and food appeared. Aha! She banged the hook another time and it happened again. The men realized what she wanted and fed her. Then Sidewinder began banging the hook whenever she was hungry. And Bob and Bill were happy to help, except for today.
This was the one day of the year when Sidewinder must be patient. Today she would play the role of Dunkirk Dave. It was up to her to pop out of the groundhog hole in Bob’s backyard. A crowd of people would be there. Everyone would be eager to find out if the groundhog saw her shadow.
The day before Groundhog Day, Bob worried about something. The weather had been warm that winter, and the snow had melted in Bob’s backyard. The ground was bare. Wild animals were out looking for food. Bob had spotted a fox close by. He also had seen a skunk. Either one might come poking around his yard. That would put Sidewinder in danger. Foxes and skunks eat groundhogs! Bob thought for a while about how to keep Sidewinder safe.
Then he remembered his mother’s old dollhouse. Her father made it for her when she was a little girl. Bob found the toy and carried it into the backyard. He paused for a minute before setting it down. His grandpa had built the dollhouse almost one hundred years ago. It is a shame to do this, Bob thought. But Mom would understand.
He took a saw and cut a hole through the bottom of the dollhouse. He made the hole as big around as the groundhog hole. Then he sat the house over the top.
And now it was almost show time! Bob carried Sidewinder outdoors. “Our guests will be here any minute,” he told her.
It was still black as night when Bob opened the dollhouse roof and put Sidewinder inside. When he closed it she was nice and safe. Behind the house stood a miniature windmill. A sign hung on the tower. It read “Dunkirk Dave.”
Then Bob went back indoors and changed into his best suit. He carefully tied his tie and combed his hair. The smell of coffee filled the air as he put doughnuts and cups on a table. For the children he had a special treat. He had bought furry, groundhog finger puppets for them. They felt soft and cuddly like Sidewinder.
1. Groundhogs are rodents, like mice and beavers.
2. A groundhog’s teeth never stop growing.
3. Groundhogs are also called “woodchucks” and “marmots.”
4. Groundhogs spend most of their lives underground.
5. Groundhogs mostly sleep in winter.
6. Groundhogs can swim.
7. Foxes, skunks, and snakes often move into abandoned groundhog burrows.
8. Groundhogs can climb trees.
9. Groundhogs love to lie in the sun.
Every kid who came to visit would get a puppet. Bob hoped this day would encourage people to stop thinking of groundhogs as throwaway animals. He hoped it would help stop people from killing them.
Bob heard the rumble of a car engine. He peeked out his sliding glass doors. A white news van had just arrived. Bob saw photographers, reporters, college students, parents, and schoolchildren gathered in his yard. He went to join them. Everyone was waiting for the sun to come up.
When it did, Bob knelt beside the dollhouse. He set a paper plate of lettuce and lemon cake on the ground. He put a finger to his lips. “Shh,” he said.
The crowd went quiet. Bob knocked on the side of the dollhouse. A small brown head appeared at the window. One tiny eye looked out.
Bob jiggled the plate. “Have some lemon cake,” he said.
Groundhogs can hear sounds that people can’t. Sidewinder listened carefully. If she heard anything scary she would not come out.
Everyone waited.
Sidewinder twitched her whiskers. She turned her head. Her body stretched out like a sausage. POP! Sidewinder slipped through the window and out of the dollhouse.
She nibbled at the lemon cake.
Bob looked at the cloudy sky. He looked at Sidewinder. He did not see a shadow. “We’re going to have an early spring,” he said. The crowd cheered.
The television crew packed up their stuff. A few people came forward to pet Sidewinder and chat with Bob. Eventually the crowd left.
Sidewinder was a big hit as Dunkirk Dave. Now she’s a star! Hundreds of people have watched her videos online. Thousands more have seen her picture. A reporter in California heard about the disabled groundhog and the men who cared for her. She flew across the country to write about them. Other newspapers reprinted her story. Now Bob, Bill, and Dunkirk Dave are known from coast to coast.
Maybe Sidewinder did run in circles, but her message was straight as an arrow. “Look at me,” her actions said. “We groundhogs are well worth saving.”