Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 469 



and when the first green blades of grass are just peeping through 

 the matted dead grass of the previous year on warm hillsides and 

 along fence-rows, the first Groundhog of the season is apt to be 

 seen. He will most likely be found out in the open in some old 

 meadow, preferably a clover-field, and near his den. Here he ap- 

 pears early in the afternoon when the sun shines warm on the hill- 

 side. He comes out not only to feed upon the young and tender 

 stems and leaves of the clover and other early spring plants, but 

 he also delights to lie in the warm sunshine or to sit upright near 

 his burrow looking about over the fields and renewing his ac- 

 quaintance with the scenes which have remained only as a memory 

 since he went into winter-quarters the previous fall. Later in the 

 spring and in summer and fall, if you should be abroad in the 

 early morning when the sun is just showing and the dew still 

 hangs heavy and sparkling on the tender new grass, you will al- 

 most certainly be rewarded by seeing one or more Woodchucks in 

 any cloverfield you chance to pass. Then they come out for their 

 morning repast of red clover stems and leaves, and the tender 

 shoots of windflower and cinnamon fern. At this time they will 

 be quite busy. When done feeding they will return to their bur- 

 rows where they probably sleep until one or two o'clock when they 

 reappear, not so much for feeding as to bask in the warm sun or to 

 look about over the country. Again late in the evening, between 

 sundown and dusk, they come out again to feed. Then they 

 usually remain out until nearly dark when they are apt to retire 

 to their burrows. They are, however, to some extent nocturnal 

 and may remain abroad well into the night. 



The Groundhog is a pretty strict vegetarian, his food consisting 

 chiefly of red clover and the tender stems of grasses and other 

 plants. He will sometimes do damage to the young corn plants and 

 will on occasion, feed upon the leaves of pumpkin, squash and bean 

 vines. They will sometimes visit the 'kitchen garden and do more 

 or less damage to the cabbage heads and celery. They have also 

 been known to visit apple orchards near their burrows and feed 

 upon such fruit as they could find on the ground. The only real 

 damage they do that is serious is that done to the clover-field; all 

 the rest is only occasional and may be regarded as negligible, ex- 

 cept perhaps the inconvenience caused by the holes they make in 

 the meadows and fields. 



Dr. Merriam has observed that in the fall the Woodchucks tend 

 to leave the burrows in the open fields and go to those in the woods 

 in which they spend the period of hibernation, and our observations 

 lead us to the same conclusion. Certain burrows in Walley's and 



