WOODCHUCKS 



IF you happen to be walking along the 

 slopes around any of the northern or 

 eastern lakes or ponds, you may come 

 across a large hole in the ground. Or there 

 may be two holes. It looks like the burrow of 

 some animal, and possibly it is located close to 

 a stump of a tree. Or you may come across 

 such a hiding-place in a coign of the woods 

 not far from the water's edge. And in pas- 

 tures that are rolling and high, there are 

 found the same kind of burrows. These are 

 the chosen abodes of the woodchuck, some- 

 times called the ground-hog, famous for his 

 prognostications as to the weather. 



He lives in these holes, and forages from 

 field to field in an unassuming effort to gain 

 an honest living. He has not a single friend 

 on earth, and his countenance is a melancholy 

 and serious one. Life for him is a constant 

 menace, for the hand of man and boy is 

 against him, and the teeth of dogs are ever 

 ready to close on his hide. The hawk which 

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