Alyssa Boehm photographs Hoggy the Groundhog, who thinks her backyard garden is a take-out joint:

He's kind of cute, but he's also a bit destructive. I opted not to plant any tomatoes this year (one if his favorites to take a single bite from) and focus on my peppers. Undaunted, he's been burrowing around in my veggie patch.

And I think he's been snacking on my hostas. ...

In more positive animal news, Alyssa also photographs cute little baby duckies at the Public Garden (and here are some cute little baby goslings in the Fenway).

Wave Maker spots an interesting goose formation in the evening sky.

Mike the Mad Biologist thinks so: A program to get geese out of Science Park only got them to move down to the Esplanade, which they now crap up, leading to crappy runoff into the river, feeding what has become an annual bloom of blue-green algae that is itself pretty gross:

... These algal blooms have been spotted in previous years up by Science Park, but now the blooms have moved down river to the Esplanade. Over the last couple of years, something else has moved downriver: geese. Two years ago, if you went out to the Esplanade on a summer day, the grass was packed with people. ... Now, almost nobody sits out at the Esplanade, with good reason: there's probably five to ten goose turds per square meter--that's fresh turds. It really is that disgusting (you definitely need a towel and a chair). The city of Boston is spending thousands and thousands of dollars to make an all-you-can-eat goose buffet and gooseshitatorium. ...

Geese crossing Longwood Avenue at the Riverway this morning.

Moxie finds it hard to be annoyed by the geese overrunning her office park. Others, however, find it very easy.