THE WOODCHUCK 
OW STRANGE it is that coun- 
try children have so seldom 
made pets of young wood- 
chucks! They are interesting 
little animals, and more in- 
telligent than most people 
think. 
The woodchuck shows his 
cleverness by the way he digs a 
burrow. He does the work by 
loosening the earth with his front feet, and pushing it 
backward and out of the entrance with the hind feet. 
The direction of the burrow extends downward for a 
little way, and then rises at an easy angle, so that the 
inmate may bein no dangerofflood. Thenest consists 
of an enlargement at the end of the burrow lined with 
soft grass, which the animal brings in its capacious 
cheek pockets. There is usually more than one back 
door to the woodchuck’s burrow, through which he 
may escape if pressed too closely by enemies. These 
back doors differ from the entrance in having no 
earth heaped near them, and in being hidden. 
The following true story of a pet woodchuck, was 
given me by Professor Ida Reveley of Wells College. 
It is a record of a pet woodchuck, captured and 
tamed by her and her brother: 
CHUCKIE 
“Oh, Lou! Open that barrel for me. Just see! 
I’ve got the cutest little woodchuck—had him by one 
toe, and he isn’t hurt much, so we will keep him. 
gI 
