420 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



There is in Calder's collection a Woodchuck that came 

 from Brandon Hills. Darbey writes me that he has never 

 known the species near Winnipeg, but has seen two skins that 

 were taken on Riding Mountain, and in 1890 he killed a large 

 Woodchuck near Fort Elice. At Carberry I secured a speci- 

 men in the spruce woods, June, 1884, and I knew of two others 

 that were killed at the same place. H. C. Nead, the taxider- 

 mist at Dauphin, tells me that it is found in that region, but is 

 rare. J. J. G. Rosser considers it not uncommon about 

 Winnipegosis and quite plentiful in Duck and Porcupine 

 Mountains, especially about Pelly. 



ENVIRON- This is a forest animal, but prefers the edges of sunny 

 openings rather than the gloomy depths, and at all times 

 is found in high, dry situations. Wooded clay banks 

 and gravelly ridges are much to its taste, and its dis- 

 tribution in Manitoba will be found dependent on their 

 presence. 



popuLA- During my early days in Ontario, Woodchucks were con- 



sidered common, but I do not think that there were 20 on our 

 hundred-acre farm. 



Walter L. Hahn states^ that in Porter County, Indiana 

 (400 square miles), where Woodchucks are very abundant, 

 about 1,400 had been killed each year for the five years ending 

 1905, without appreciably reducing their numbers. 



In Lewis Co., N. Y., ^^ were captured in one large meadow 

 during a single season by Drs. Merriam and Bagg.^ In Mani- 

 toba I doubt if the entire Woodchuck population is more than 

 a few thousands. 



INDIVID- The home -range of the individual is very limited in one 



RANGE sense. The tracks and the destruction around the doorway 



of a Woodchuck's den show clearly that ordinarily it does not 



go more than 100 yards from home. But a time comes when 



it needs a change, and it sets out to seek its fortune elsewhere, 



' Mam. Kankakee Valley, Proc. U. S. N. M., 1907, p. 458. 

 ' Mam. Adir., 1884, p. 249. 



