The Ely miner., 1929-01-18
HOG
DAt,
SSCSIO
I'D @@@ ~

Nor is gr0undlo. more Tii3n hatI COT
rect It's true. also, that ne lives for
the most plri in the ground hut he
is naT hua mar remotely reiated Ia
the hr2 Like fhnse other pnrctneiy
.iel,.f "a aninills rhp porcurine aHd
-. mia PIC kp is rodent and IS
~eIa . "a the squirrels and fhe rab
bits
T. l. hishly unlikely thHr whether
;ha S.,y he bright or cloudy un Can
,lpuas day the groundhu2 bothers 10
come up Ia innk for his highly impor
TAM shadow al least north of the
Masun-IIixan line He is II very Snund
sleeper, and snooZeS the winter away
in his hurruw. rolled up in com
pact hall with his nose tucked into
his rummy. If you find his home and
dig him out he will not awaken. for
the sleep of hibernation is much more
deathlike than ordinary slumber, and
a hiher1ating animal will stand the
toughest kind of treatment without
showing any signs of life
Even when be does come out, with
of green stiff TO eat the grounding
is still sleepy-head. He has no 9th
er waking occupation except eating,
fighting occasionally, and taking care
of his family during the breeding
period. so that he has plenty Of leis-
ure time on his hands in summer. He
spends that in sleep. too.
The grounding is not beauty. He
is from 10 TO Is inches tall and his
coat is blackish or grizzled above and
chestnut-red below. His form is thick
and his head broad and fat He has
a bushy tail and his legs are too short
to make him handsome.
The grounding digs burrows deep
into the ground when on the plains,
or when he can find a hill he will bur-
row into the side of it He also views
as a favorable site for his home a
large rock under which he may dig.
His burrow slants upward to keep out
water.
The grounding is vegetarian witt
a strong preference for alfalfa and
clover. That does much TO damage
his reputation with farmers. who an
nually lose thousands of dollars be-
cause of his taste.
In the southern mountains, where
he is known as the whistle-pig, he is
all the more resented when on Feb
ruary 2 sleet finds the unstopped
cracks in a log cabin and unseason-
able chill penetrates the cornhusk bed
with its scant covers. But the vio-
Ience that overtakes him there is due
to his liking for the bark of tender
young apple trees and garden stuff.
However, despite all that the sci
enists may say about Mr.. Arctomys
Monax-that he is not really the AMI
NAL that his common names Indicate
and that he has nothing whatever TO
do with deciding the question of "Can
spring be far behind T'-the belief in
the Grounding day tradition is pretty
likely to persist indefinitely and on or
about February 2 we can expect TO
see such newspaper stories as the fol-
lowing:
There must be something TO il"
So declared ]. L. Hayes. Dodge City,
as he wonderinglv watched his ground
hog playing about his yard in the
bright sunlight this morning The lit
tie animal Iad dug his way from his
den. where he had remained since No
vember 27 last. and was roaming about
Il never believed in that gag" he
said but what in thunder is a man
- -lA--
dars. and that grounding hadn't seen
one. I swear How did he know this
was the second of February? This is
the first day he has been out since
November %, when he holed up.
You can't blame il on me; that
grounding dug out on his own initia-
tive. Look at him 1t sis six weeks
more of winter, sure. That ground
nog has convinced me there is some
thing in the old superstition"
Or ii may be believe il or nor
item sue: as the following:
Mr. Hayes brought the grounding
to Dodge City from Saguache Park,
Colo, two years ago, to test the old
superstition. Last February the ami
NAL emerged from his hole at o'clock
in the afternoon, remained in the SUM-
light about twenty minutes and then
re-entered his den, piling dirt in the
opening until il was completely closed
Frank Nollier tells this one: A man
back in Iowa says he is a firm believ-
er in the grounding theory. The man
was out cutting wood on grounding
day and took of his coat and put il
on a log When he came to get his
coat il was gone He looked every
where, but could not find il Six weeks
later be was cutting wood in the same
place He happened to look around
and saw a grounding come out of his
hole and put his coat on the log where
he had found il six weeks previous.
Now you tell me--Glen Elder (Kan-)
Sentinel
That invitation is repeated by the
writer of this article. and if you can
tell a better one. he will incorporate
il in his Grounding day article next
yeari