Feb., 1912. Mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 151 



Marmota monax Adams, Rept. State Board Geol. Surv. Mich., 1905 (1906), p. 128 

 (Michigan). Jackson, Bull. Wis. Nat. Hist. Soc, VI, 1908, p. 19 (Wisconsin). 

 Hahn, Ann. Rept. Dept. Geol. & Nat. Resources Ind., 1908 (1909), p. 480 (In- 

 diana). Howell, Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., XXIII, 1910, p. 25 (southern Illinois, 

 Missouri, Kentucky). 



Type locality — Maryland. 



Distribution — From the edge of the Plains to the Atlantic, north 

 to about the Canadian border except in northern Maine, northern 

 New Hampshire and northern Vermont; south to Virginia, Ken- 

 tucky, central Missouri and Kansas, and in the Allegheny Mountains 

 in Tennessee. Replaced in Canada by a smaller and browner 

 form, M. m. canadensis. 



Description — Adult: General color grizzly brown, the hairs on the 

 back being largely tawny brown with gray tips and blackish bases; 

 belly and under parts more tawny brown, shading to rusty brown 

 around the fore legs; feet brownish black; cheeks grayish; mouth 

 edged with more or less whitish; tail dark brown, many of the hairs 

 tipped with gray. The general color is variable, some being much 

 darker than others and occasionally black or pure white specimens 

 occur. Two fine examples of the latter are contained in the Field 

 Museum collection. 



Measurements — Total length, 22 to 25 inches; tail vertebras, 5.25 to 

 6.15 inches; hind foot, 3.40 to 3.75 inches. 



Average measurement of eight specimens from various localities : 

 Total length, 23.25 in. (579.8 mm.); tail vertebrae, 5.6oin. (142mm.); 

 hind foot, 3.60 in. (90.4 mm.). 



Remarks — Specimens from northern Wisconsin are intermediate 

 between monax and canadensis, and those from the extreme northern 

 part of the state, while not typical canadensis, approach much 

 nearer to that form than to monax. 



The Woodchuck, or Ground Hog as it is often called, is common 

 throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. At the present time in settled 

 districts it frequents open fields in preference to woods (which is its 

 natural habitat), where it lives in burrows in the ground. These 

 burrows vary in form and extent; some are not uncommonly 50 feet 

 in length, while others will not exceed 10 feet or even less. They are 

 rarely more than 5 feet in depth below the surface of the ground at the 

 deepest point. I once found a nest at the end of a burrow which was 

 5 feet 3 inches below the surface of the ground, but the average depth 

 will probably not exceed 4 feet. Usually each burrow is provided 

 with at least two entrances and often with three, including a "back 

 door." The following sketch illustrates the plan of a burrow of a large 

 Woodchuck in an alfalfa field at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. 



