The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-07-05

particular day. 1t makes no difference |
what the weather Is, he comes out any |
way, even II he has to dig his way out |
through drifts of snow. The length OF |
ltime he has been alternating has moth |
ing to do with it apparently. for II there |
is an early fall he holes up early and II
the fall is mild he stays out much later |
Whatever time he turns in for his long |
sleep he always wakes up on the same |
day.
This is one OF the reasons why the
Quarryvilites worship him. The funny
part of II il that while they try to pro-
tect him they enjoy eating him and
often have woodchuck dinners during
the summer months. 1t may be re-
marked right here that a young chuck
properly cooked makes mighty good
eating.
While these people ara making such
a fuss over this little animal others not
far away are doing all In their power
to eXterminate him. for he is the cause
of endless trouble and no small loss TO
the farmers. Whatever good he may
do in the way of eating bugs and insects
/ in general IL more than Offset by the
damage he does to crops, so the farmers
argue.
/ lie will take up his home n a fine
/ field Of grain and the very first thing
/ he does Is TO dig hole for horse to
break leg in when the moving Is done.
| Then he starts out on tour OF investi-
. CATION. searching for the choice spots of
| clover. for. be It known. he Will eat only
| the very best food obtainable. Every
where he walks his short fat body breaks
down the grain and kills 1t. At the end
OF the season the field in the vicinity of
his burrow looks like a huge wagon
wheel. the barrow forming the hub and
his many paths the spokes.
IL left alone woodchucks will shortly
overrun the pasture, making It worth
less. And there Is no small creature
harder TO kill than n grounding. He
has wonderful eyesight and very acute
hearing and this combination makes II
hard for even the best of shots to bring
him home. While feeding he il con-
stantly on the move. sitting up on his
launches every few moments to take a
View OF the surrounding territory, and
II he sees anything that arouses his sus-
picions, off he hikes for home and safety
Don't think for n moment that lust
because he happens to be short and fat
he cannot run, He can outrun the
average man. and incidentally It takes
n mighty good dog to whip him in a
fair fight. He h a marmot and has the
cruel teeth OF the rat. only many times
larger and stronger. and can inflict a
very painful and even dangerous bite.
His houses are so we'll laid out that II
he once gets in one might just ms well
give up hope Of getting him. He al
ways digs his burpnw on side hill and
digs uphill from the entrance so thai
when 1t rains he will be dry. He digs
deep enough TO have II warm in win.
ter, and he always has at least two en-.
frances. so that IL you make It too hot
for him when you try to smoke hin
out he can give you the slip.
His winter quarters are roomy ant
usually occupied by several members OF
his family. They curl up in the gras,
and leaves that they have carried in anc
/ go to sleep till grounding day.
> This year the festive chuck has been
receiving more than his share OF atten-
ton in the daily papers. on at least on,
, occasion being OF sufficient Importance
to break into print all over the country
, at once. This happened when one OF hi.
n conduit belonging to the New Yorl
e Central Railroad and short circuited al
e signal wires The signals all commence,
y to tango and turkey trot, jumping from
clear to danger and Topping up an,
. down 80 that the engineer OF a north
!. bound train thought he had 'em ill h,
. called the conductor. who saw the sam.
= thing he did. Being relieved on THU
r score the engineer started to find on
& the cause. He looked in the pipe an,
& saw the grounding. All efforts faillnI
to drive the woodchuCk out and trafn
. being held up they called n gang O
=. workmen to smoke him out The
= started a fire, which was seen by TN
g towerman, who thought the CROSSING
!. was on fire and sent out signals 20 sto
u all trains. After while the 'chucl
d thought discretion the better part q
valor and Withdrew and once more tn
!, New York Central Railroad resume
" normal traffic.
, From Syracuse. Y Y. comes the re
+. port of a pet grounding that his mastc
e uses for hunting, claiming that tn
chuck Is better than a pointer. TIL
woodChuck answers to the name of Pet
and when hunting will sit up and emit
shrill whistle when he sees the birC
After his master has shot the game tn
n intelligent Pete retrieves the bird, wap
| glng his stubby tail to show how please
ne is.
This is nothing to the stories that on
can hear az the annual banquet of tn
Ie Grounding Club. And the members sa
RS that they are all true too. They wi
,e tell OF the rare white grounding, who
n seldom seen, and of the more commo
q black woodchucks and of the marvellou
a., things that they have seen them do.