Groundhog
- This article is about the mammal. The name "woodchuck" is also used for a woodpecker.
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The Groundhog (Marmota monax), also called a Woodchuck or Whistlepig, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. Most marmots live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the Woodchuck is a creature of the lowlands. It is widely distributed in North America, from Alaska to Alabama and Georgia. In the west it is found only in Alaska and British Columbia and northern Washington.
Groundhogs are typically 40 to 65 cm long (including a 15 cm tail) and weigh 2 to 4 kilograms. In areas with fewer natural predators and large quantities of alfalfa, they can grow to 24 inches (80 cm) and 30 lb (14 kg). They can live up to six years in the wild, and ten years in captivity.
The Groundhog is one of a small number of species that have grown greatly in numbers since the arrival of European settlers in North America, since the clearing of forests provided it with much suitable habitat. It prefers open country and the edges of woodland. As a consequence, it is a familiar animal to many people in the United States and Canada. As Groundhogs enjoy open spaces, they can be seen by humans the most around freeways, especially near large interchanges which are usually not heavily wooded and populated with humans.
Groundhogs are excellent burrowers, and they use burrows for sleeping, rearing young, and hibernation. The burrows generally have two exits, and the groundhog rarely ventures far from one of them for safety. While preferring to flee from would-be predators, the groundhog is known to viciously defend its burrow when invaded by the occasional skunk, fox, weasel or domestic dog. It can inflict quite a bit of damage with its two large incisors and front claws, especially when the predator is at a disadvantage inside the burrow.
In the United States and Canada, there is a Groundhog Day celebration that gives the Groundhog some added popularity.
The name woodchuck has nothing etymologically to do with wood. It stems from an Algonquian name for the animal (possibly Narraganset), wuchak. This confusion led to the common tongue twister, "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood."
The Wall Street Journal quotes wildlife expert Richard Thomas as calculating that the average Groundhog moves approximately 1 m³ (35 cubic feet), or 320 kg (700 pounds), of dirt when digging a burrow.
Usually Groundhogs breed in their second year, but a small percentage may breed as a yearling. The breeding season extends from early March to middle or late April following hibernation. A mated pair will remain in the same den through the 28-32 day gestation period. As birth of the young approaches in April or May, the male will leave the den. One litter is produced annually, usually containing two to six blind, naked and helpless young. Young Groundhogs are weaned and ready to seek their own dens at five to six weeks of age.
External links
- Hinterland Who's Who ("Canadian Wildlife Service: Mammals: Woodchuck")
- Missouri Conservation Commission ("Woodchuck")
Other meanings
- The woodchuck is also the arch-nemesis of The Internet Oracle
- Another name for woodpecker
- A "groundhog" is also a one page summary or review of an idea, proposal or larger document usually used in business settings.