Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-27
GROUNDHOGS ARE SLEEPING,
But Within a Few Days They Will Look
Around for Their Shadows
Their Habits, Home and Food and
How They Live Through
the Winter.

Next month the legendary and prophetical
grounding will come out of its hole and look
around for its shadow. That will happen
on Candlemas day. If he sees it, which
will naturally be the case if the sun shines,
he will return to his underground habita-
ton for another long rest, being convinced
that this particular winter is destined to
linger in the lap Of the forthcoming spring.
This interesting animal is equally well
known as the ''woodchuck.'' But it has
great many other names besides. In fact,
people would seem to have exhausted in
genuity in devising varied designations for
the beast. Linnaeus, the famous founder
of the modern school of natural history, en-
titled 1t mus monax," which, being inter-
preted. means a cross between a mouse and
monkey. The Canadian French speak Of
it as the "siffleur," or whistler" This is
on account of the whistling noise which it
sometimes utters when startled. In the
great fur-bearing region about Hudson's
bay it answers to tine name of the thick
wood badger" while to the westward the
hardy Inhabitants Of Alaska mean wood
chuck when they exclaim ''tarbagan," and
the wild Chippewas likewise when they
grunt kath-hilloe-kooay"
The GroundhOe at Home.
The animars habits do not vary with the
multitude of his titles He lives in bur-
row remarkable for its extent. 1t is dug
into the slope Of hill or by the side of
big stone making an excavation twenty or
thirty feet long, which descends obliquely
four or five feet. then gradually rising to a
large round chamber, where the grounding
family sleeps and brings up its young. The
little ones are born three TO eight at time.
When the farmer, with his horses and now
ing machine, chances to slump into one of
these holes, disappearing from view until
eXcavated by charitable neighbors, he is
apt TO feel annoyed and to revile the whole
woodchuck tribe without discrimination. 1t
Is largely on this account that bounties for
killing the creatures have been offered in
New Hampshire and other states, as much
as 10 cents for each tail being paid. Hunt
ers will not Kill them, for the fur is worth
less and the flesh by no means palatable
II Is not true that in certain parts OF the
country farmers have found 1t necessary
to shovel paths through groundhogs In or
der to reach their barns.
save in the way just mentioned, the wood
chuck does little or no harm to anybody.
He is strictly a vegetarian, feeding mostly
on clover and grass. Rarely does he enter
the garden, preferring the open meadows
and rocky hillsides. The first rains that
fall copiously after haying is over cause the
fresh green grass to spring up anew. This
second crop in many places consists largely
of red clover, which the grounding regards
as most delightful delicacy. 1t eats so
much during the latter part of August and
the first half of thu following month that
II becomes exceedingly fat and inert. About
September 30 or a little later it goes into
winter quarters, and it does not come out
again to stay until the middle of March.
During the Winter.
This creature is the most remarkable ex-
listing example Of alternating mammal
1t lays up no store of provisions as the
squirrel does. Its food is of such a nature
haf tx-iil nnf L. mi h..
must sleep to save itself from starving. 1t
disappears with astonishing precision with
in few days of the autumnal equinox and
remains underground until about the time |
when the sun cuts the plane of the equator
at the vernal equinox. Often the weather |
Is very warm when 1t retires and it will |
come out in March when snow is on the |
ground, making long journeys to find places |
where patches of the coveted green grass |
have been laid bare by thaw. At the end |
Of the winter the animal Is thin and doubt
less feels rather seedy, having lived on its |
own tissues and without sustenance for SO |
long time.
During the term of Information physical |
waste Is reduced to a very low point the |
hearts action slackening and the breathing |
becoming SO slight that ii can only be de- /
tected by delicate instruments. Even when |
kept In warm house through the cold sea-
son tame grounding becomes torpid at /
the usual date and remains so until the he |
tomary term. In this latitude the hiberna-
ton of the animal is not so complete as |
farther north. and few hundred miles far
Their south IL is interrupted by periods of |
during which the wnodchuck
goes abroad and gets its meals The prac-s
tice of hiberrating is merely a device of ma
ture for enabling the animal to get along
without food at times when there is no food /
to be had. Otherwise 1t would perish and |
the species would become extinct
NO use Tor the grounding worth mention
ing has ever been discovered 1t is other /
wise with another queer mammal-the por- |
cupire Porcupines have been used as fuel. /
for which purpose they are said to be SUI
perior to wood. Some time ago at the Will
mot mine in Minnesota the porcupines |
came to be REGARDED as such a nuisance |
being very numerous. that one day the /
foreman threw a couple OF dead ones into
the fireplace of the steam drill. To his sur |
prise the steam ran up to eighty pounds |
in a short time. From that time on the /
miners were instructed to kill and bring |
In every porcupine they could catch for use |
In the furnace. Such, at all events, is the |
story.