Woodchuck 
these parts, made it impossible for him to get fat enough to risk 
turning in at the regular time for woodchucks to retire about the 
first of October. 
In the days of the uncleared forest before the white-men came, 
woodchucks, it is safe to assume, had a much longer list of 
enemies than now. Bears, wolves, lynxes and panthers, undoubt- 
edly all preyed on them as occasion afforded, and it is hardly 
likely that the Indian hunter felt himself demeaned by stooping 
to the chase of such humble quarry. 
At present the only native animal that the woodchucks have much 
to fear from is the fox. From this determined hunter they are_not 
always Safe, even in the depths of their burrows. In the winter 
when the ground is unfrozen, foxes will even dig them out 
of their winter quarters and kill them in their sleep. They dig 
them out in warm weather as well, though I fail to see how they 
ever manage to catch up with so accomplished a burrower in 
an underground race. 
But the little woodchucks I expect are in much greater danger, 
for while they are still no bigger than rats, they begin to spend sunny 
hours exploring the grass around the burrow, or sprawled out 
asleep on the hot earth piled in front of it. 
At such times hen-hawks or cooper’s hawks might easily pick 
them up, but I do not remember having seen evidence that they 
often do. For awhile the old woodchucks make a point of look- 
ing out for their safety, but in a most indifferent sort of way, 
quite unlike the zealous watchfulness displayed by most wild 
animals. The female has in fact on occasions been said to push her 
offspring out of the hole one at a time in order to purchase 
her own safety by distracting the attention of a dog that was 
trying to dig her out. 
Varieties of the Woodchuck 
1. Woodchuch. Arctomys monax (Linneus). Description and 
range as above. 
2. Northern Woodchuck. A. monax canadensis (Erxleben). Darker 
than the above, black and brown predominating, hairs 
more variegated with white, cheeks gray. 
Range. Boreal regions north of the preceding. 
3. Labrador Woodchuck. A. monax ignavus Bangs. Similar to the 
last externally. 
Range. Labrador. 
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