THE WOODCHUCK 
farmer boys and girls throughout the 
Middle and Eastern States, for he is as 
much a part of the farm as is the brook or the sugar- 
bush. 
In form he is far from graceful, especially in the 
latter part of the summer when his body becomes 
very fat and pouchy. The color of his fur varies from 
a reddish brown to a grizzled gray or, occasionally, 
black; while his teeth, like those of the squirrel and 
prairie-dog, are strong and well adapted for cutting. 
The woodchuck is of the earth earthy, and there is 
a peculiar odor about the place where he dwells, for 
he lives not in the lap, but in the bosom, of Mother 
Earth,—however his summer home may be in a wall 
or stone-heap. The woodchuck of the present day 
is rather inclined to desert the old home in the woods, 
where he fed upon tender bark and roots of various 
kinds, and become a dweller in the field near the 
clover-patch and garden. Here he is so destructive 
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