

CONTROLLING GROUND HOGS 



431 



Clover and alfalfa suffer, as do many of the vegetables in the 

 kitchen garden. Woodchucks in northern latitudes are dormant 

 during winter, emerging from their burrows in late spring, though 

 sometimes seen at the surface near their holes early in February, 

 giving rise to the expression of " ground-hog day." They are 

 heavy, thick-set animals, brown, black, gray, or yellowish gray; 

 about two feet long from the tip of the nose to the end of the bushy 

 tail. They are familiar to almost every farmer (Fig. 414). 



Their natural enemies are not numerous. Dogs and foxes 

 frequently dig them out of their burrows. Wolves, lynx, and the 

 larger hawks and owls prey upon the young animals. Woodchucks 

 are by no means nocturnal and are frequently seen feeding or 



r 



FIG. 414. Woodchuck. 



sunning themselves in the daytime. If cornered they put up a 

 brave fight. Woodchuck oil is valued by some, and the flesh has 

 been used as human food, but otherwise the animals possess no 

 attractive virtues. 



Controlling Ground Hogs. 1. They readily fall victims to 

 steel traps placed in the mouths of their burrows. The trap should 

 be placed a short distance down the burrow, in a depression, and 

 covered lightly with earth. The chain of the trap may be fastened 

 to a stick outside. This is perhaps the most feasible and also 

 the most effective way of disposing of ground hogs. 



2. A good marksman with a rifle stationed where he can 

 command a view of the field can generally kill them at long range. 



