Charlie Fineran’s Photo of the Week features baby woodchucks. Or are they groundhogs?

I have been busy with several projects and also the weather didn’t cooperate with me getting several nice new photos for this week so went to my spring archives and was looking around and came across several groups of photos showing baby groundhogs near my house by a little pond and also showing agroundhog family living under my deck!!  Checked my insidewarren.com folder and saw that I have not written and shown photos of the groundhog so we are taking care of that right now!!  It always amazes me just how interesting our wildlife is and how they benefit their very homelands and ecosystems!!  Even animals as common as the groundhog are fascinating to learn about!!

THE GROUNDHOG – (Marmota monax)

Research says that the groundhog is also known as a woodchuck and is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.  It is a lowland animal of North America;  it is found through much of the eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska. It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.  There are six species of woodchucks and marmots that live in the United States.  They are mainly considered a nuisance because they commonly invade cropland and vegetable gardens, eating or destroying vegetables and landscape plants.  They live in underground holes or dens, this also adds to the nuisance label because they may undermine buildings.

And more…..The groundhog is by far the largest sciurid in its geographical range, excepting British Columbia where its range may abut that of its somewhat larger cousin, the hoary marmot.  Adults may measure from 41.8 to 68.5 cm (16.5 to 27.0 inches) in total length, including a tail of 9.5 to 18.7 cm (3,7 to 7.4 inches)  Weights of adult groundhogs range between 2 and 6.3 kg (4.4 and 13.9 lbs.) Their color is a grizzled brown with variations from reddish to blackish which is uniformly colored.  They have a prominent bushy tail.  Small ears, short legs and their feet are dark brown or black.

DID YOU KNOW?! 

• A groundhog’s teeth can grow 1/16^th of an inch in just one week!!!  They have four ‘incisors’ which are about 4 inches long, 18 chewing teeth take place behind the incisors separated by a large gap. 
• Their jaws move both side to side and up and down for optimal chewing.  This helps them chew through hard matter like sticks and larger pieces of wood, to build their homes and burrows.

       *     They take special care for their teeth!!  They chew through grass and leaf roots to keep their teeth in top condition.  Such strong teeth for teeth with no enamel!!  This ensures they can keep the growth of their front teeth in check.

Woodchucks have one litter per year of 4 to 5 young born in April or early May, after a 28 day gestation.  Blind and naked at birth, they open their eyes and crawl about 1 month then they may venture out to explore their new world.  Their dens have large burrow openings 8 to 12 inches across with mounds of dirt just outside the main entrance.  There are often additional escape openings with no mounds.  When hay and grass is high, woodchucks will tramp down trails, which radiate from burrows.

The name Woodchuck comes from a Cree Indian word, ‘wuchak’, used to identify several different animals of similar size and color, including other marmots; it denotes nothing about the woodchuck’s habits or habitat.  They are sun-loving animals active by day, especially early morning and late afternoon.  In early fall, it will put on a heavy layer of fat, which will sustain it through its winter hibernation.  A male at once seeks a mate and will have a brief stay in the burrow of a receptive female, this is the only time that two adults share a den.  Groundhogs are good swimmers and climbers and will climb a tree to escape an enemy or obtain a vantage point, but never travels far from its den.  Their burrows can be up to 5 feet deep and 30 feet long, has one or more tunnels terminating in a chamber containing a grass nest. 

I have had a woodchuck family burrow under my deck and another entrance alongside my house and the deck, about 40 feet away, under a pile of cinderblocks is another burrow which they use as a safety escape depending where they are in the yard.  They are connected although I do know they are the same groundhogs using both burrows!  They feed on green vegetation, such as grasses, clover, alfalfa and sometimes on corn.  The human hunter is the woodchuck’s major enemy, but the automobile and large predators, especially the red fox also take their toll.

NOTE:  While an overpopulation can damage crop fields, gardens and pastures, woodchucks are beneficial in moderate numbers.  Their defecation inside the burrow, in a special excrement chamber separate from the nesting chamber, fertilizes the earth.  Their digging loosens and aerates the soil, letting in moisture and organic matter while bringing up subsoil for transformation into topsoil.  (in New York State they turn over 1.6 million tons of soil each year!)

Please go to my Flickr site for more photos and videos showing groundhogs – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157651198832366

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran, Director Open Space

Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman