22 WOOD-CHUCK OR GROUND-HOG. 



urging them toM'ards a hole beneath a rock, with so much quickness — 

 energ3% I may call it — that ere I could lay hands on even one of her pro- 

 geny, she had them all in the hole, into which she then pitched herself, 

 and left me gazing in front of her well-secured retreat, thus baffling all 

 my exertions ! " 



We have now and then observed this Marmot in the woods, leaning 

 with its back against a tree, and exposing its under parts to the rays 

 of the hottest sun : on such occasions its head \vas reclining on its 

 breast, the eyes were closed, the fore-legs hanging down, and it was 

 apparently asleep, and presented a singular and somewhat ludicrous 

 figure. 



An intelligent naturalist has in his account of these animals, said 

 that " their burrows contain large excavations in which they deposit 

 stores of provisions." This assertion contradicts our o\m observations 

 and experience. We are inclined to doubt whether storing up provisions 

 at any or for any season of the year, can be a habit of this species. In the 

 summer of 1814, in Renssellaer County, in the State of New York, we 

 marked a burrow, which was the resort of a pair of Marmots. In the begin- 

 ning of November, the ground was slightly covered with snow, and the frost 

 had penetrated to the depth of about half an inch. We now had excava- 

 tions made, in a line along the burrow or gallerj' of the IMarmots ; and at 

 about twenty-five feet from the mouth of the hole, both of them were 

 found lying close to each other in a nest of dried grass, which did not ap- 

 pear to have been any of it eaten or bitten by them. They were each 

 rolled up, and looked somewhat like two misshapen balls of hair, and 

 were perfectly dormant. We removed them to a haj^ stack, in which we 

 made an excavation to save them from the cold. One of them did not 

 survive the first severe weather of the winter, having, as we thought on 

 examining them, been frozen to death. The other, the male, was now 

 removed to a cellar, ■where he remained in a perfectly dormant state 

 until the latter part of February, when he escaped before we were aware 

 of his reanimation. We had handled him only two days previously, and 

 could perceive no symptoms of returning vivacity. During the time 

 he was in the cellar, there was certainly no necessity for a " store of 

 provisions " for him, as the animal was perfectly torpid and motionless 

 from the day he was caught, until, as just mentioned, he emerged from 

 that state and made his escape. 



In the month of May, or sometimes in June, the female brings forth 

 her young, generally four or five in number. We have however on two 

 occasions, counted seven, and on another eight, young in a litter. In 

 about three weeks, they may be seen plajdng around the mouth of the 



