36 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



run as the chuck, threw all stealthiness aside and 

 rushed directly for the hole. At that moment 

 the woodchuck discovered his danger, and, see- 

 ing that it was a race for life, leaped as I never 

 saw marmot leap before. But he was two sec- 

 onds too late, his retreat was cut off, and the 

 powerful jaws of the old dog closed upon him. 



The next season Cuff tried the same tactics 

 again with like success, but when the third wood- 

 chuck had taken up his abode at the fatal hole, 

 the old churner's wits and strength had begun to 

 fail him, and he was baffled in each attempt to 

 capture the animal. 



The woodchuck usually burrows on a sidehill. 

 This enables him to guard against being drowned 

 out, by making the termination of the hole higher 

 than the entrance. He digs in slantingly for 

 about two or three feet, then makes a sharp up- 

 ward turn and keeps nearly parallel with the sur- 

 face of the ground for a distance of eight or ten 

 feet farther, according to the grade. Here he 

 makes his nest and passes the winter, holing up 

 in October or November and coming out again 

 in March or April. This is a long sleep, and is 

 rendered possible only by the amount of fat with 

 which the system has become stored during the 

 summer. The fire of life still burns, but very 

 faintly and slowly, as with the draughts all closed 



