What is a Groundhog?
Take a look at what a real groundhog looks like and learn a little about this animals known for their weather forecasting expertise. Charles H. Warren Scientific Name: Marmota monax CLASS: Mammalia ORDER: Rodentia FAMILY: Sciuridae Statistics WEIGHT: 4.25-14 lb TAIL: 4-10 in LENGTH: 15.5-32 in Groundhogs also known as Woodchucks and Marmota monax According to the Entomly Department of Purdue University, “The woodchuck (Marmota monax), a member of the squirrel family, is common throughout Indiana. It can be found in open pastures, woodlots, cultivated and fallow fields, and along railroad embankments, ditch banks, roadsides, fence rows, and levees. In cropping areas, woodchucks consume soybeans, corn and alfalfa. The extensive burrowing activities of woodchucks in fields can interfere with farm operations, cause damage to equipment, injury to livestock, and create significant erosion problems in levees, pond dams and railroad embankments. Around private homes, one or two woodchucks are
Dunkirk Dave is Cool!Groundhogs are also know as “woodchucks”, “whistle pigs” and “marmots”. The groundhog is a member of the rodent family. Typically, an adult groundhog can grow to weigh approximately eight to fourteen pounds and average about 22 inches. and they can be found from as far west as Alaska and British Columbia, across Canada, south into Oklahoma, and as far east into all the North East United States. Groundhogs are “fossorial” – meaning, they live most of their lives underground. They dig burrows or “dens”, that have several entrances, each connected with the main tunnel and nesting chamber where the groundhog will hibernate for the winter. Their whiskers help them to “see” underground, but above ground they have excellent hearing and eyesight! Their natural enemies are the fox, wildcats, coyotes and hawks. Another natural enemy of the groundhog is man. Man has built homes and roads in many of the areas the groundhog has called home, reducing the size of the natural envi
