Biirroivs of the Aincrican Marinoi. 105 



INVEvSTIGATIONS OF THE BURROWS OF THE 

 AMERICAN MARMOT.- (Arctomys monax.) 



By William Hubbell Fisher, Cincinnati, Ohio, U. S. A. 



I. NARRATIVE AND DESCRIPTION. 



It was in the Summer of 1889 that I liad become interested 

 in the American Marmot. This animal is commonly known 

 as the ground hog, or woodchuck. 



I suggested to the farmers that I had some intention of 

 unearthing a woodchuck in his hole. Some informed me that 

 I could not find him, if I did dig, because the animal would 

 dig faster than I could, and would escape. I inquired : 

 Where did the woodchucks die? To this question I got no 

 satisfactory answer. One man told me that if a woodchuck 

 died in his hole, no other woodchuck would ever inhabit it. 



As to what the woodchuck did above ground, all were a 

 unit. They also agreed that he was good for food ; made a 

 nice dish when properly cooked and served ; should be drawn 

 immediately after death, and be thoroughly washed to avoid 

 an odor and taste which otherwise would permeate the flesh ; 

 that he ate vegetable food ; that he was a desperate fighter ; 

 that in that county, viz : Eewis County, New York, he went 

 into his hole about the time frost began to come in the Fall, 

 and stayed there until the snows had disappeared in the 

 Spring ; that he was very fat and plump in the Fall and thin 

 •when he reappeared in the Spring ; that the young born 

 under ground came forth in the Spring and rapidly grew to 

 maturity ; that the coat of hair was poor in Summer and 

 good in Fall. 



"Copyrighted 1893. 



