rather limited space, preferably on the slope of a 

 meadow. Each burrow usually has a number of exits, 

 in order to make escape more certain when the animal 

 is pursued. In close quarters, the t^round-hog chat- 

 ters its teeth and utters a low whistling sound. It is 

 chiefly diurnal in its habits and forages in the woods 

 and in the thick growth around the borders of fields, 

 feeding on grasses, clover and, occasionally, garden 

 crops. Because of its habit of placing the rather large 

 burrow, around the entrance of which it heaps mounds 

 of dirt, in sections where horses and cattle graze, the 

 animal becomes somewhat of a nuisance. Farmers in- 

 sist that running stock is endangered to the extent of 

 breaking their legs by stepping into the exposed en- 

 trances of the burrow. For this reason, and because of 

 the fact that it sometimes becomes quite destructive in 

 truck patches, farmers wage an incessant war against 

 it. The ground-hog eats voraciously during the sum- 

 mer and builds up a large reserve of fat to carry it over 

 the winter. Instead of storing up food materials, as do 

 its relatives, the squirrels, the ground-hog hibernates. 

 At the first approach of frosty weather, the ground- 

 hogs enter their burrows, where they remain inactive 

 until the following Spring. As a general rule, they 

 hibernate in pairs, snuggling together and sleeping 

 through the long winter months. Because of the in- 

 activity, they require little food, and the energy is sup- 

 plied by the excess of fat stored up in the Summer 

 months. The ground-hog attains a length of about 

 twenty to twenty-five inches. Its tail is about six inches 

 long and a large animal may weigh as much as twelve 

 or thirteen pounds. There is a common superstition that 

 the ground-hog emerges from its winter sleep about 

 the first of February and ventures forth from its bur- 



-«>f 112 ><:-'- 



