154 FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY- ZOOLOGY, VOL. XL 



suspiciously about. . . . Only a single pair of adults occupy the 

 same burrow. The hibernation of the woodchuck is as profound as 

 that of the spermophiles. Naturally this animal is strictly herbivorous. 

 Though living in the woods, it does not eat nuts, nor gnaw bark, nor 

 am I aware that it ever digs roots. It is not a tree climber, though it 

 sometimes crawls up a leaning tree, or into the thick branches of bushes 

 overgrown with vines, on which it is fond of lying in warm sunny days. 

 In this vicinity I have often found a number of them taking refuge in 

 standing hollow trees, entering a hole at the ground, and climbing up 

 the cavity in the manner of the gray rabbit." (1. c., p. 83.) 



Woodchucks do not store up food in their burrow for winter use, as 

 they hibernate during the cold months. Regarding this strange con- 

 dition of suspended animation Dr. C. Hart Merriam writes,* "In 

 hibernation the temperature of the animal approximates that of the 

 surrounding atmosphere, the heart action slackens and respiration can 

 only be detected by means of delicate instruments devised for the 

 purpose. This fact was known to Spallanzani nearly a hundred years 

 ago, for he wrote to Senebier, 'You will remember about my Marmot 

 which was so exceedingly lethargic in the severe winter of 1795; during 

 that time I held him in carbonic acid gas for four hours, the thermometer 

 marking 1 2 ; he continued to live in this gas which is the most deadly 

 of all . . . at least, a rat and a bird that I placed with him perished 

 in an instant. ' ' 



The following account of the habits of a tame Woodchuck is given 

 by Audubon and Bachmanf, as related to them by the Hon. Daniel 

 Wadsworth of Hartford, Connecticut. ."'I kept,' said he to us, 'a fine 

 Woodchuck in captivity, in this house for upwards of two years. It 

 was brought to me by a country lad, and was then large, rather wild, 

 and somewhat cross and mischievous; being placed in the kitchen, it 

 soon found a retreat, in which it remained concealed the greater part 

 of the time every day. During several nights it attempted to escape 

 by gnawing the door and window sills; gradually it became more quiet, 

 and suffered itself to be approached by the inmates of the kitchen, 

 these being the cook, a fine dog, and a cat; so that ere many months had 

 elapsed, it would lie on the floor near the fire, in company with the dog 

 and would take food from the hand of the cook. I now began to take 

 a particular interest in its welfare, and had a large box made for its 

 use, and filled with hay, to which it became habituated and always 

 returned when inclined to repose. Winter coming on, the box was 

 placed in a warm corner, and the Woodchuck went into it, arranged its 



* Mamm. Adirondack Reg., 1886, p. 243. 

 t Quadrupeds N. Amer., I, 1854, PP- 20-21. 



