The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1929-01-18
J 100
DAY,
15x ~.

Nor is grounding more than half cor
rect. It's true, also, that he lives for
the most part In the ground but ne
is not hog. nor remotely related TO
the hog. Like those other porcineiy
misnamed animals, the porcupine and
the guinea pig, he is a rodent ana is
related to the squirrels and the rab-
bits.
It is highly unlikely that whether
the sky be bright or cloudy on Can
dlemas day the grounding bothers to
come up to look for his highly impor-
tant shadow, at least north OF the
Mason-Dixon line. He is very sound
sleeper, and snoozes the winter away
in his burrow, rolled up in a COM
pact ball with his nose tucked into
his tummy. If you find his home and
dig him out he will not awaken, for
the sleep Of Information is much more
deathike than ordinary slumber. and
a alternating animal will stand the
toughest kind of treatment without
showing any signs of life.
Even when he does come out, with
the real return of spring and plenty
of green stuff to eat,- the grounding
is still sleepy head. He has no 9TH
err 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. DE
spends that in sleep. too.
The grounding is not beauty. He
is from Is to 1S inches tall and his
| coat is blackish or grizzled above and
| chestnut-red below. His form Is thick
| and his head broad and fiat He has
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 hill he will bur-
row into the side of it. He also views
as a favorable site for his home Q
large rock under which he may dig.
| His burrow slants upward to keep out
water.
The grounding is vegetarian with
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, ne IS
| all the more resented when on Feb
ruary 9 sleet finds the unst0pped
| cracks in a log cabin and unseason-
able chill penetrates the cornhusk BED
| with its scant covers. But the vio-
ia4e t HAT les hixn thara IS duo
| to his liking for the bark Of tender
young apple trees and garden stun.
However, despite all that the sci
EXISTS 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" -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:
Dodge City, Kan-1 give up.
There must be something to it."
So declared j. L. Hayes. Dodge City
| as he wonderingly watched his ground
hog playing about his yard in the
| bright sunlight this morning. The NJ
| tie animal lad dug his way from MS
| den. where he had remained since Mo-
yember 81 last and was roaming about.
81 never believed in that gag" ne
said. "but what in thunder is a man
| to think now? / hid all my calen-
| dars, and that grounding hadn't seen
one. l swear How did he know TINS
| was the second of February? This Is
the first day he has been out since
| November 81, when he holed up.
you can't blame it on me; that
grounding dug out on his own initia-
| tive Look at him. 1t is six weeks
more of winter, sure. That ground
hog has convinced me there is some
thing in the old superstition"
Or it may be believe it or not"
item such as the following:
Mr. Hayes brought the groundhog
to Dodge City from Saguache Park,
| Coio two years ago, to test the old
| superstition. Last February Q the ami
NAL emerged from his hole at o'clock
in the afternoon, remained in the sun
| light about twenty minutes and then
| re -entered his den, piling dirt In the
| opening until II was completely closed
Frank Nollier tells this one: A man
back in Iowa says he is firm believ-
err in the grounding theory. The man
was out cutting wood on grounding
day and took off his coat and put Il
on a log. When he came to get his
coat ii was gone. He looked every
where, but could not find 1t. Six weeks
later he 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 it 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 better one, he will incorporate
1t in his Grounding day article next
yearl