Mrs. Christopher and Her....um....Vermin?

This photo is from the June 1966 "Women's Household" magazine. Upon leafing through such an interesting magazine, my eyes stopped at the "All About Pets" section. I stared, dumbfounded, until I read the caption:

The caption is "This is Mrs. Noble Christopher holding her pet ground hog. He loves to be held as any other pet does. He is eating an ear of corn in this picture."

I wonder what Mr. Noble thinks of the groundhog...I suppose, until Mrs. Noble starts dressing up Mr. Groundhog in little dresses and petticoats, Mr. Noble will tolerate the critter -- "that weasel is the only thing keeping my Mrs. sane," he'll tell his buddies over coffee down at the Cenex before work, not knowing that his wife is slowly sewing frilly groundhog undergarmets out of his old handkerchiefs. No house-groundhog ever goes undressed.