SECRETARY'S REPORT. 175 



DIMENSIONS. 



Length of head, H to 2 inches. 



Length of head and body, 5 to 6 inches. 



Length of tail without the hairs at the tip, 3^ to 4^ inches. 



Length of tail with the hairs at the tip, 4|^ to 4^ inches. 



Length of hind foot, If to If inches. 



Genus: Arctomys. — (Gmelin.) 

 Characteristics. — Head large, broad and flattened ; ears short ; eyes 

 rather small than large; molars tuberculated, ten in the upper, and 

 eight in the lower jaw ; incisors, two in each jaw, less compressed than 

 in Sciurus, and rounded anteriorly ; body very thick, clothed with 

 short, thin fur ; limbs short and strong ; feet strong, naked beneath, the 

 anterior with four toes and a rudimentary thumb, and the posterior feet 

 with five toes ; all the toes furnished with long, thick and strong claws, 

 which are slightly curved, adapted to digging but not to climbing ; tail 

 short, with long hairs, but not bushy. Animals in this genus live in 

 burrows, in the ground, generally, if not always remaining torpid in 

 them during the winter. 



Arctomys monax, (Gmelin.) — 'Woodchuck, Ground Hog, Marmot. 



This species is very common in this State ; in a measure, it is regarded 

 as a nuisance, in consequence of its depredations in the clover field and 

 garden ; but as a general thing, living as it does in the woods and fields, 

 usually at a distance from our dwelling-houses, the mischief it does is 

 not great, certainly not meriting the wholesale slaughter that it meets 

 with at the hands of every farmer. It usually selects its home in the 

 neighborhood of, or beneath a rock or stone wall ; its burrow is long, 

 sometimes consisting of several passages leading to a large chamber 

 which is the summer and winter home. 



The woodchuck, when feeding, is very careful not to have its retreat 

 to its burrow cut off, usually eating a mouthful or two and then standing 

 on its haunches, reconnoitres, always retreating suddenly to its burrow at 

 the first suspicious movement, uttering a shi'ill whistle with a chattering 

 termination ; if its retreat is cut off, it will face a man or dog, giving 

 battle with great courage, and the wounds it inflicts with its long, sharp 

 incisors are often enough to drive off its assailant. I have often been 

 successful in getting between them and their burrow, and the fight 

 which was the invariable consequence, was highly exciting. I remem- 

 ber an instance which will clearly describe some of the habits of 

 this animal. While haying one day, I noticed in an adjoining field an 

 animal moving, which I soon recognized as a woodchuck ; the field had 

 been mown about a fortnight, and the tender leaves of the new clover 



