Groundhogs are also known as woodchucks
This fun little rodent is called a groundhog. I had rented a supertelephoto lens one day, and I was out looking to take photos of birds. Then looking off to the left, I saw a groundhog scurrying about in the woods. With great delight, I snapped a photo before he ran away.
These animals are also known as woodchucks. Their scientific name is Marmota monax. They belong to the family Sciuridae, which is the family that also contains marmots. If you’ve ever hiked to a summit in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, you may know marmots from their aggressive behavior with hikers and climbers. They are always looking to go through your equipment and to chew through your ropes.
The groundhog can be found across a broad range of North America: the eastern United States, Canada, and Alaska. They live in lowland habitats, that often include open country and the edges of woodland. Groundhogs also live in forests, fields, pastures, and hedgerows. They don’t stray far from their burrows that they build.
Groundhogs create burrows for sleeping, raising young, and hibernating. They tend to have between 2 and 5 entrances. This allows them to escape from predators with ease. The dens can remove as much as 6 cubic feet of earth when creating their dens. Several individuals may inhabit the same burrow. The burrows are quite advanced. There will be a chamber for nesting that is lined with detritus such as leaves and grasses. There is an excrement chamber. There are also side galleries that may lead to other entrances. Abandoned burrows end up being leveraged by many other animals: rabbits, raccoons, foxes, otters, chipmunks, snakes, and birds. That makes groundhogs an important part of the ecology of the Midwest.
Groundhogs will also hibernate in their burrows, but they sometimes make separate burrows just for hibernation. They will truly hibernate. During this time their heart rate falls to 4 to 10 beats per minute, their body temperature drops to as low as 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and they slow their breathing to once every 6 minutes! Their hibernation period lasts from October to March or April, and they can lose as much as 50% of their body weight during that time.
During hibernation their heart rate falls to 4 to 10 beats per minute
Did you know?
- They are the most solitary of the marmot species
- Some groundhogs can live to be 14 years old in captivity! The average lifespan in the wild is about 2-3 years.
- They are preyed upon by coyotes, badgers, bobcats, gray wolf, eastern cougar, golden eagles, great horned owls, and foxes.
0 Comments