These eating habits make him very unpopular with farmers and gardeners. The woodchuck is slow moving, so it can be hunted by fast-moving animals such as wolves, coyotes, foxes, and dogs. Its main defense is its burrow. It stays close to the burrow and listens, looks, and smells for signs of danger. Any unusual sounds, movements, or smells send it scurrying for home and the safety of the burrow.
Man is also an enemy and shoots the woodchuck to keep it from damaging crops and gardens.
The woodchuck has two types of dens or burrows. The summer burrow is built close to a good source of food like a pasture or meadow. The second home is the winter home. It is built to survive the long, cold winter. Woodchucks are most active during daylight hours and are quite easy to spot when travelling down the road in early spring and in the summer.