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The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.<ref name = MSW3>Template:MSW3 Sciuridae</ref> A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It was given its scientific name as Mus monax by Carl Linnaeus in 1758,<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> based on a description of the animal by George Edwards, published in 1743.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The groundhog is an important contributor to the maintenance of healthy soil in woodlands and plains; as such, the species is considered a crucial habitat engineer.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The groundhog is an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks and kinship with its young; it is capable of understanding social behavior, communicating threats through whistling, and working cooperatively to accomplish tasks such as burrowing.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
EtymologyEdit
Common names for the groundhog include chuck, wood-chuck, groundpig, whistle-pig,<ref name="si">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk,<ref name="Seton1928">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp land beaver<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The name "thickwood badger" was given in the Northwest to distinguish the animal from the prairie badger. Monax ({{#invoke:Lang|lang}}) is an Algonquian name of the woodchuck, which means "digger" (cf. Lenape {{#invoke:Lang|lang}}).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp Young groundhogs may be called chucklings.<ref name="Schoonmaker">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
The etymology of the name woodchuck is unrelated to wood or any sense of chucking. It stems from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The similarity between the words has led to the popular tongue-twister:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck
- if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
- A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could
- if a woodchuck could chuck wood!
DescriptionEdit
The groundhog is the largest sciurid in its geographical range, excluding its presence in British Columbia where its range may be comparable to that of its somewhat larger cousin, the hoary marmot. Adults may measure from Template:Convert in total length, including a tail of Template:Convert.<ref name="Kwiecinski">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name= Schwartz>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=DC>Template:Cite book</ref> Weights of adult groundhogs typically fall between Template:Convert.<ref name=DC/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Male groundhogs are slightly larger than females on average and, like all marmots, they are considerably heavier during autumn (when engaged in autumn hyperphagia) than when they emerge from hibernation in spring. Adult males average year-around weight Template:Convert, with spring to fall average weights of Template:Convert while females average Template:Convert, with spring to fall averages of Template:Convert.<ref name=Kwiecinski/><ref>Template:Citation</ref> Seasonal weight changes reflect circannual deposition and use of fat. Groundhogs attain progressively higher weights each year for the first two or three years, after which weight plateaus.<ref name=Kwiecinski/>
Groundhogs have four incisors, which grow Template:Convert per week. Constant usage wears them down by about that much each week.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Unlike the incisors of many other rodents, the incisors of groundhogs are white to ivory-white.<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp Groundhogs are well-adapted for digging, with powerful, short legs and broad, long claws. The groundhog's tail is shorter than that of other Sciuridae—only about one-fourth of body length.
Distribution and habitatEdit
The groundhog dwells in lowland habitats, unlike other marmots that live in rocky and mountainous areas. Marmota monax has a wide geographic range. The groundhog prefers open country and the edges of woodland, being rarely found far from a burrow entrance.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> It can typically be found in small woodlots, low-elevation forests, fields and pastures, and hedgerows. It constructs dens in well-drained soil, and most groundhogs have summer and winter dens. Human activity has increased food access and abundance, allowing M. monax to thrive.<ref name=ADW>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
BehaviorEdit
W.J. Schoonmaker reports that groundhogs may hide when they see, smell, or hear an observer.<ref name=Schoonmaker/>Template:Rp Marmot researcher Ken Armitage states that the social biology of the groundhog is poorly studied.<ref>Special feature "The Study of Groundhogs: A Real Life Look at Marmots", Movie "Groundhog Day" 15th Anniversary Edition.</ref> Despite their heavy-bodied appearance, groundhogs are accomplished swimmers and occasionally climb trees when escaping predators or when they want to survey their surroundings.<ref name="chapman">Template:Cite book</ref> They prefer to retreat to their burrows when threatened; if the burrow is invaded, the groundhog tenaciously defends itself with its two large incisors and front claws. Groundhogs are generally agonistic and territorial toward each other and may skirmish to establish dominance.<ref name="whitaker"/><ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp Outside their burrow, individuals are alert when not actively feeding. It is common to see one or more nearly motionless individuals standing erect on their hind feet watching for danger. When alarmed, they use a high-pitched whistle to warn the rest of the colony, hence the name "whistle-pig".<ref name="adweb" /><ref name="CWS">Hinterland Who's Who ("Canadian Wildlife Service: Mammals: Woodchuck"). Hww.ca. Retrieved on September 15, 2011.</ref> Groundhogs may squeal when fighting, seriously injured, or caught by a predator.<ref name="CWS"/> Other vocalizations include low barks and a sound produced by grinding their teeth.<ref name="CWS"/> David P. Barash wrote that he witnessed only two occasions of upright play-fighting among woodchucks and that the upright posture of play-fighting involves sustained physical contact between individuals that may require a degree of social tolerance virtually unknown in M. monax. Alternatively, upright play-fighting may be a part of the woodchuck's behavioral repertoire that rarely is shown because of physical spacing and/or low social tolerance.<ref name="BarashMarmots">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp
DietEdit
Mostly herbivorous, groundhogs eat primarily wild grasses and other vegetation, including berries, bark, leaves, and agricultural crops, when available.<ref name="whitaker">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="auto">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In early spring, dandelion and coltsfoot are important groundhog food items. Some additional foods include sheep sorrel, timothy-grass, buttercup, persicaria, agrimony, red and black raspberries, mulberries, buckwheat, plantain, wild lettuce, alfalfa, and all varieties of clover. Groundhogs also occasionally eat small animals, such as grubs, grasshoppers, snails, and even bird eggs and baby birds, but are not as omnivorous as many other Sciuridae.<ref name="auto"/><ref>Canadian Wildlife Federation, Groundhog</ref>
An adult groundhog can eat more than Template:Convert of vegetation daily.<ref>DNR, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, Groundhog</ref> In early June, woodchucks' metabolism slows, and while their food intake decreases, their weight increases by as much as 100% as they produce fat deposits to sustain them during hibernation and late winter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Instead of storing food, groundhogs stuff themselves to survive the winter without eating.<ref>Discovery Nature Encyclopedia, Groundhog</ref> Thought not to drink water, groundhogs are reported to obtain needed liquids from the juices of edible plants, aided by their sprinkling with rain or dew.<ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp<ref>The Virtual Nature Trail at Penn State New Kensington Species Pages Scientific name: Marmota monax Common name: woodchuck.</ref><ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp
BurrowsEdit
Groundhogs are excellent burrowers, using burrows for sleeping, rearing young, and hibernating. Groundhog burrows usually have two to five entrances, providing groundhogs their primary means of escape from predators. The volume of earth removed from groundhog burrows in one study averaged Template:Convert per den. The longest burrow measured Template:Convert in addition to two short side galleries.<ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp
Though groundhogs are the most solitary of the marmots, several individuals may occupy the same burrow.
Burrows can pose a serious threat to agricultural and residential development by damaging farm machinery and even undermining building foundations.<ref name="adweb">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In a June 7, 2009, Humane Society of the United States article, "How to Humanely Chuck a Woodchuck Out of Your Yard" by John Griffin, director of Humane Wildlife Services, stated you would have to have a lot of woodchucks working over a lot of years to create tunnel systems that would pose any risk to a structure.Template:Cn
The burrow is used for safety, retreat in bad weather, hibernating, sleeping, mating, and nursery. In addition to the nest, there is an excrement chamber. The hibernation or nest chamber is lined with dead leaves and dried grasses.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The nest chamber may be about twenty inches to three feet (Template:Convert) below ground surface. It is about Template:Convert wide and Template:Convert high. There are typically two burrow openings or holes. One is the main entrance, the other a spy hole. Description of the length of the burrow often includes side galleries. Excluding side galleries, Schoonmaker reports the longest was Template:Convert, and the average length of eleven dens was Template:Convert.<ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp W. H. Fisher investigated nine burrows, finding the deepest point Template:Convert down. The longest, including side galleries, was Template:Height.<ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp Numbers of burrows per individual groundhog decrease with urbanization.<ref name="watson"/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Bachman mentioned when young groundhogs are a few months old, they prepare for separation, digging a number of holes in the area of their early home. Some of these holes were only a few feet deep and never occupied, but the numerous burrows gave the impression that groundhogs live in communities.<ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp
Abandoned groundhog burrows benefit many other species by providing shelter. They are used by cottontail rabbits, raccoons, foxes, river otters, eastern chipmunks, and a wide variety of small mammals, snakes, and birds.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HibernationEdit
Groundhogs are one of the few species that enter into true hibernation, and often build a separate "winter burrow" for this purpose. This burrow is usually in a wooded or brushy area and is dug below the frost line and remains at a stable temperature well above freezing during the winter months. In most areas, groundhogs hibernate from October to March or April, but in more temperate areas, they may hibernate as little as three months.<ref name="rhodeisland">Woodchucks in Rhode Island Template:Webarchive. (PDF) dem.ri.gov. Retrieved on September 15, 2011.</ref> Groundhogs hibernate longer in northern latitudes than southern latitudes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> To survive the winter, they are at their maximum weight shortly before entering hibernation.<ref name="ReferenceA">Woodchucks in Rhode Island, dem.ri.gov</ref> When the groundhog enters hibernation, there is a drop in body temperature to as low as Template:Convert, heart rate falls to 4–10 beats per minute and breathing rate falls to one breath every six minutes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During hibernation, they experience periods of torpor and arousal.<ref>Penn State news, January 22, 2014, Professor sheds light on groundhog's shadowy behavior </ref> Hibernating woodchucks lose as much as half their body weight by February.<ref>Groundhog Day facts and factoids, Cornell Chronicle, February 1, 1996</ref> They emerge from hibernation with some remaining body fat to live on until the warmer spring weather produces abundant plant materials for food.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Males emerge from hibernation before females.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp Groundhogs are mostly diurnal and are often active early in the morning or late afternoon.<ref>Woodchuck Template:Webarchive, Illinois University</ref>
ReproductionEdit
Groundhogs are considered the most solitary of the marmot species. They live in aggregations, and their social organization also varies across populations. Groundhogs do not form stable, long-term pair-bonds, and during mating season male-female interactions are limited to copulation. Groundhogs in Ohio, however, have been observed to have different social organization than groundhogs elsewhere, with adult males and females associating with each other throughout the year and often from year to year.<ref name="mating system">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Kwiecinski" /> Usually groundhogs breed in their second year, but a small proportion may breed in their first. The breeding season extends from early March to mid- or late April, after hibernation. Woodchucks are polygynous<ref name=ADW/> but only alpine and woodchuck marmot females have been shown to mate with multiple males.<ref name="mating system"/> A mated pair remains in the same den throughout the 31- to 32-day gestation period.<ref>Woodchuck. Marmota monax. (PDF). North Carolina Wildlife.</ref> As birth of the young approaches in April or May, the male leaves the den. One litter is produced annually. Female woodchucks give birth to one to nine offspring, with most litters ranging between 3 and 5 pups.<ref name=ADW/> Groundhog mothers introduce their young to the wild once their fur is grown in and they can see. At this time, if at all, the father groundhog comes back to the family.<ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp By the end of August, the family breaks up; or at least, the larger number scatter, to burrow on their own.<ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp
Health and mortalityEdit
In the wild, groundhogs can live up to six years with two or three being the average life expectancy. In captivity, groundhogs reportedly live up to 14 years. Human development often leaves vacant space near secondary forests, which are indigenous to groundhogs, which ensures that groundhogs in well-developed areas are nearly free of predators other than humans (through various forms of pest control or vehicular incursion) or mid-to-large sized dogs.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Occasionally, woodchucks may suffer from parasitism, and a woodchuck may die from infestation or from bacteria transmitted by vectors.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In areas of intensive agriculture and the dairying regions of the state of Wisconsin, particularly in southern areas, the woodchuck had been almost extirpated by 1950.<ref name="Jackson1961">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Jackson (1961) suggested that exaggerated reports of damage done by the woodchuck led to excessive culling, substantially reducing its numbers in the state.
In some areas woodchucks are important game animals and are killed regularly for sport, food, or fur. In Kentucky, an estimated 267,500 M. monax were taken annually from 1964 to 1971.<ref name="barbour">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp Woodchucks had protected status in the state of Wisconsin<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> until 2017.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Woodchuck numbers appear to have decreased in Illinois.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Natural predatorsEdit
Wild predators of adult groundhogs in most of eastern North America include coyotes, badgers,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> bobcats, and foxes (largely red fox). Many of these predators are successful stealth stalkers that catch groundhogs by surprise before they can escape to their burrows; badgers likely hunt them by digging them out from their burrows. Coyotes in particular are sizable enough to overpower any groundhog with the latter being the third most significant prey species per a statewide study in Pennsylvania.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Large predators such as gray wolf and eastern cougar are likely extirpated in the east but still may hunt groundhogs on occasion in Canada.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Golden eagles can also prey on adult groundhogs, but seldom occur in the same range or in the same habitats as this marmot. Likewise, great horned owls can reportedly, per Bent (1938), prey upon groundhogs but rarely do so, given the temporal differences in their behaviors.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name= Bent>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Young groundhogs (usually those less than a couple months in age) may also be taken by the American mink, and perhaps other small mustelids, cats, timber rattlesnakes, and hawks. Red-tailed hawks can take groundhogs at least of up to the size of yearling juveniles, and northern goshawks can take them up to perhaps weak emergent-adult groundhogs in the Spring.<ref name= Kwiecinski/><ref name= DC/><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Beyond their large size, groundhogs have several successful anti-predator behaviors, usually retreating to the safety of their burrow which most predators will not attempt to enter, but also being ready to defend themselves with their sharp claws and large incisors. They can also scale trees to escape a threat.<ref name="barbour"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Failed verification<ref name="watson">Template:Cite thesis</ref>Template:Failed verification
Relationship with humansEdit
Both their diet and their habit of burrowing make groundhogs a serious source of nuisance around farms and gardens. They will eat many commonly grown vegetables. Extensive burrowing can undermine foundations.<ref name="adweb"/>
Very often, the dens of groundhogs provide homes for other animals, including skunks, red foxes, and cottontail rabbits. Foxes and skunks feed upon field mice, grasshoppers, beetles, and other creatures that destroy farm crops. In aiding these animals, the groundhog indirectly helps the farmer. In addition to providing homes for itself and other animals, the groundhog aids in soil improvement by bringing subsoil to the surface. The groundhog is also a valuable game animal and is considered a difficult sport when hunted in a fair manner.<ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp In some parts of the U.S., they have been eaten.<ref name="Castro">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
A report in 1883 by the New Hampshire Legislative Woodchuck Committee describes the groundhog's objectionable character:<ref name="Seton1928"/>Template:Rp<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
The woodchuck, despite its deformities both of mind and body, possesses some of the amenities of a higher civilization. It cleans its face after the manner of the squirrels, and licks its fur after the manner of a cat. Your committee is too wise, however, to be deceived by this purely superficial observation of better habits. Contemporaneous with the ark, the woodchuck has not made any material progress in social science, and it is now too late to reform the wayward sinner. The average age of the woodchuck is too long to please your committee.... The woodchuck is not only a nuisance, but also a bore. It burrows beneath the soil, and then chuckles to see a mowing machine, man and all, slump into one of these holes and disappear....{{#if:|{{#if:|}}
— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries}}
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The committee concludes that, "a small bounty will prove of incalculable good; at all events, even as an experiment, it is certainly worth trying; therefore your committee would respectfully recommend that the accompanying bill be passed."<ref name="Schoonmaker"/>Template:Rp
Groundhogs may be raised in captivity, but their aggressive nature can pose problems. Doug Schwartz, a zookeeper and groundhog trainer at the Staten Island Zoo, has been quoted as saying "They're known for their aggression, so you're starting from a hard place. His natural impulse is to kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out. You have to work to produce the sweet and cuddly."<ref name="nytimes1">Template:Cite news</ref> Groundhogs cared for in wildlife rehabilitation that survive but cannot be returned to the wild may remain with their caregivers and become educational ambassadors.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>The Winchester Star, Christopher Early, "Library holds Groundhog Day celebration", p. 1A, February 6, 2017</ref><ref>Winchester Star, Centerpiece, "Local groundhog predicts 6 more weeks of winter", February 2, 2018, Cathy Kuehner</ref>
In the United States and Canada, the yearly Groundhog Day celebration on February 2 has given the groundhog recognition and popularity. The most popularly known of these groundhogs are Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie, Shubenacadie Sam, Jimmy the Groundhog, Dunkirk Dave, and Staten Island Chuck kept as part of Groundhog Day festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania; Wiarton, Ontario; Sun Prairie, Wisconsin; Dunkirk, New York; and Staten Island respectively. The 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day references several events related to Groundhog Day, and portrays both Punxsutawney Phil himself, and the annual Groundhog Day ceremony. Famous Southern groundhogs include General Beauregard Lee, based at Dauset Trails Nature Center outside Atlanta, Georgia.<ref name="lee-ajc">Template:Cite news</ref>
Groundhogs are used in medical research on hepatitis B-induced liver cancer. A percentage of the woodchuck population is infected with the woodchuck hepatitis virus (WHV), which is similar to human hepatitis B virus. Humans cannot contract hepatitis from woodchucks with WHV, but the virus and its effects on the liver make the woodchuck the best available animal for the study of viral hepatitis in humans. The only other animal model for hepatitis B virus studies is the chimpanzee, an endangered species.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Woodchucks are also used in biomedical research investigating metabolic function, obesity, energy balance, the endocrine system, reproduction, neurology, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and neoplastic disease.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Researching the hibernation patterns of groundhogs may lead to benefits for humans, including lowering of the heart rate in complicated surgical procedures.<ref>Penn State News, (January 29, 2009) "Professor studies groundhog hibernation to benefit mankind"</ref>
Groundhog burrows have revealed at least two archaeological sites, the Ufferman Site in the U.S. state of Ohio<ref name=dohp>Owen, Lorrie K. (ed.) (1999). Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 1. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, p. 328.</ref> and Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania. Archaeologists have never excavated the Ufferman Site, but the activities of local groundhogs have revealed numerous artifacts. They favor the loose soil of the esker at the site lies, and their burrow digging has brought many objects to the surface: human and animal bones, pottery, and bits of stone.<ref name=dohp/> Woodchuck remains were found in the Indian mounds at Aztalan, Jefferson County, Wisconsin.<ref name="Jackson1961"/>Template:Rp
Robert Frost's poem "A Drumlin Woodchuck" uses the imagery of a groundhog dug into a small ridge as a metaphor for his emotional reticence.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
- Daughter of miner with pet ground hog. Dixie Darby Fuel Company, Marne Mine, Lejunior, Harlan County, Kentucky. - NARA - 541297.jpg
Daughter of a Lejunior, Kentucky, coal miner with her pet groundhog (1946)
- Marmota monax-lateral.jpg
Close encounter with a photographer at Sheldon Marsh State Nature Preserve, Ohio
ReferencesEdit
Further readingEdit
External linksEdit
Template:Sister project Template:Sister project
- Woodchuck, Hinterland Who's Who
- Woodchuck (Groundhog), Missouri Conservation Commission
- NIH Guide: BREEDING AND EXPERIMENTAL FACILITY FOR WOODCHUCKS (MARMOTA MONAX) Breeding and Experimental Facility for Woodchucks
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