Yeah - go ahead and hurt him - justify it with the disease and possibly infestation of food (or perhaps as the weather is turning, she is setting up a nest to add more little invaders)
Not as bad as squirrels but not just cute harmless little furry bodies. Cheese, trap - problem solved.
Pay attention to Wardmom Drew. And they are not all that cute either btw.
Last winter when things turned very, very cold instead of simply very, we discovered we had the little critters. Or maybe only one, but we got a few visits in the kitchen before I could get out and get a killer diller killer.
I didn’t discover anything at first and then one night quite late I came downstairs to get a drink, and when I turned on the light, something dark scurried quickly and was away in seconds. The following day neither of us could get out and forget why, but the next morning I discovered one corner of the plastic breadbox chewed away. Went out and bought a Rat Killer. Runs on battery, zaps the damn things graveyard dead. Killed two and had no more problems after that. Am ready this year. Nail em quick on first sighting.
I find that the little buggers like peanut butter better than cheese. One time we got about 5 or 6 of the buggers in the garage. Got some beer some chairs and the killer cat from hell. Boy was that fun for a while. The cat finally got tired and just killed the last 2, but played with the rest.
I write as one nested in some cardboard in our shed. It’s the 2nd time, we have lived with a back that is uninhabited - which ups our quotient of wild critters. So I have no love when the beasties move inside. One of the reasons I always keep a cat (even if ours are worthless).
Never thought about peanut butter - might use that - when we shut down the shed for the winter. Won’t she be in for a big surprise.
Now if I could just figure out how to nuke the groundhogs before they get into the garden.