The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1885-04-03
The WOOOCHuCH.
Description of Marmot which is Other
wise known as the Ground Hog.

Description of Marmot Which is Other
wise Known the Ground Hog.
This large marmot, the ArctOmys
mouax of naturalists. is found from
Hudson's Bay to Virginia, and west:to
the Rocky Mountains, and in parts of
many States is vet common. The color
is variable. but l have found grizzly
gray to be the most usual: specimens
of a chestnut, and even blacklist color.
are sometimes seen. The under SUI
face IS mostly reddish. The body of
this animal is thick and clumsy. and
the legs are short and muscular: the
thumb is rudimeutary, and is provided
with fiat nail instead of a claw; the
tail is bushy. Average length of head
and body, nineteen inches; of the tail.
five and a half inches. Weight OF 4
large. fat male, ten pounds.
The ground hog digs a burrow from
twenty to thirty feet in length. with a
large chamber at its extreme end: in
this chamber is built a nest of grass
and leaves. and here the young are born
and the entire family live. Heaps of
stones, the base of large boulder. or
an old stone wall are the sites general
" chosen for the entrance to-
the tunnel The call of this
marmot is q shr;ll whistle; it seems
TO be used only as cry of alarm
OF warning. When surprised 1t 4
distance from its home, it runs rapidly
for a short distance, and then squats
g. =, l hn
pursued. and then runs on again and
STOPS as before; so strong is this haoit
that | have seen 4 woodchuck stop and
stare for a couple of seconds after =
rife bad had struck the fiat rock on
which it was crouched directly under
il. sending little cloud of dust and
Spl;nterS of stone over the animal
When chased by dogs it makes sw IT
progress, and if caught turns and fights
fiercely. often 'overmastering dog of
moderate size Its powerful front teeth
infi!ct most deep and ugly wounds. The
per DDS of act.E " of this marInot are
in the evening and the early morning;
during the middle of the day it gener-
allv remains in its burrow, though |
have seen them abroad 1T noon, espec-
iallv in the autumn -.
The woodchuck can cl NIB trees in a
clumsy fashion, and occasionally mounts
to 4 low branch. and there stretches it.
self out to enjoy the warm sunshine, of
which it is very fond They also some
times lean with the backs against a
tree trunk, sitting Oh their hind quar-
tiers with their under surface exposed
to the hot rays. THIS species stores up
no supply OF food for the winter and
during the latter season retireS to the
Utmost chamber of its burrow, and be-
comes perfectly torpid Ii dug oat at
this time, they are found apparently in
animate, cooled into sort of ball. with
the oh n pressed against the abdomen.
In Nav or June the female brings
forth from four to six young. At the
end of three weeks, or rather longer,
they may be observed playing around
the entrance to the burrow, to which
they at once retreat at the approach of
danger At the age of few m 0nths
the young leave their parents and dig
for themselves habitat:ons in the i'm
mediate neighborhood of their paternal
burrow. The woodchuek cannot be
sad to live in communities, although
st times a few inhabited tunnels
may be found together. When a
number of tunnels are discovered close
to one another. it VIII generally be
fOqud that the majority have been dug