Where do the Groundhogs go…

I have a family of groundhogs living in my backyard, specifically under my wooden deck. I’ve tried boarding up the edges of the deck, but each spring, a critter finds a way beneath it. During the first few years I lived here, I dealt with families of skunks; one spring, I trapped and removed four skunks, and it was not fun. So when the groundhogs arrive in the spring, I don’t mind—they're better than skunks. Now that fall is here and the weather is changing, I wonder if they will stay under my deck all winter. I could trap and remove them, tear my deck apart, or dig and build a chicken wire barrier around the entire deck, but it’s not a battle I choose to fight right now. I realize I’m essentially conducting a risk analysis on the situation: the risk of them causing harm is low, while the effort to get rid of them is high. So they stay. This is how I make many of my decisions—a risk analysis. I ask myself what the worst thing that could happen is and the likelihood of it occurring. If the effort required on my part outweighs the assessed risk, I can shrug my shoulders and save it for another day. There will always be something more pressing to take care of. The groundhogs appreciate it!