176 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



were scattered in little clumps over the stubble. The woodchuck was 

 moving from the wall, in which its home was, into the field, eating the 

 clover ; he would gallop from one clump to another, his little short legs 

 not permitting him to walk sufficiently fast, or with desirable ease ; on 

 reaching a cluster of clover, he would bite off a mouthful and eat it 

 while standing on his hind legs and haunches, watching for a suspicious 

 movement from the hay-makers in the adjoining field. I waited until 

 he had got a sure distance into the field, and then cautiously crept 

 behind the wall until I got opposite him, when I jumped over and 

 walked towai'ds him ; he stood perfectly still until I got near him, when 

 he made a rush to get by me, but I headed him off several times, until 

 completely bafiled ; he stood still on his haunches, eyeing me wickedly, 

 and chattering his long, sharp incisors. I touched his head with a pitch- 

 fork handle, he growled and seized it, clinging tenaciously enough for 

 me to lift him clear from the ground ; when he let go I found a dent in 

 the hard ash handle, nearly a quarter of an inch deep. I amused 

 myself with him for a while, and then stepped aside, allowing him to 

 pass me ; he soon availed himself of the privilege, scampering as fast 

 as his short legs would permit ; I chased him when he got near the 

 wall, and he turned to face me, but at length retreated, whistling and 

 chattering, into his burrow. 



The woodchuck often visits the kitchen garden, eating the vines of 

 the pease and beans ; but I am persuaded that the mischief which is 

 charged to it is often done by other animals. There have been, in my 

 knowledge, several cases where the gardens had been invaded, the pease 

 beans and other vegetables destroyed, and the farmer, on watching, 

 found the thief to be the common rabbit, (Z. sylvaticus,) which animal 

 often visits the gardens and orchards, doing considerable mischief. The 

 woodchuck has from three to six at a birth, in the spring ; the young 

 usually pass the ensuing winter in the same burrow as the old ones, 

 sleeping with them, huddled in a bunch. On the approach of cold 

 weather, they retire to their burrow, closing its mouth Avitli earth, to 

 keep out the cold ; here they remain torpid until the spring. 



Description. — Head broad, tapering suddenly to the nose ; ears very 

 short and rounded, with hairs within and without, those behind the ear 

 being long, extending beyond the ear; eyes small, placed far apart, 

 about midway between the ear and nose ; whiskers black, placed in 

 several series on each side of the nose and face ; neck short ; body 

 very short and thick ; limbs short ; feet naked beneath, the anterior four- 

 toed, the posterior, five-toed ; tail short, with long hairs, equally dis- 

 tributed on all sides. Color : above and on each side of the head and 

 body the fur is dark gray at its base, then yellowish, then chestnut and 

 tipped with white, producing a hoary appearance ; beneath the body 



