208 GNAWING ANIMALS 



The Woodchuck, or Ground-" Hog," ^ is tolerated on 

 the farms of New England because as a rule he is wise 

 enough to live on clover and other grass and let the vegetable 

 gardens alone. Occasionally, however, he does damage in 

 gardens that are temptingly near his woodland haunts, and 

 invites the farmer's dog and gun. 



In the East he is the only representative of the marmots. 

 In form he is short and stout, and his flat head and beady, 

 black eyes give him a surly look. He is not lively and cheer- 

 ful in his habits, like a prairie-" dog," and it is seldom that 

 any one speaks well of him. His favorite home is a burrow 

 in a brushy, gravelly hillside in a "swamp lot," or woods 

 pasture, and while he likes to come out and bask in the 

 warm sunshine, he never ventures far from his front door. 



In the autumn, instead of storing up vegetables for winter, 

 he takes on a quantity of fat, under his skin. Early in 

 November he blithely goes to sleep in his burrow, and does 

 not waken until February 2, — "Ground-Hog day." Then, — 

 so runs the popular legend, — he emerges and looks about him. 

 If he sees his shadow, he again retires to his burrow, and 

 sleeps six weeks longer, — which betokens a cold, wintry spring. 



The eastern Woodchuck is a typical marmot, short-legged, 

 heavy-bodied, flat-headed, and brownish-gray in color. The 

 length of its head and body is 14 inches, and of its tail 5 

 inches. It inhabits the eastern United States from New 

 York to Georgia, and westward to Kansas and South Dakota. 



A much larger species, called the Gray Marmot,^ or 

 Whistler (22-|-7 inches), is an important northwestern form, 



' Mar-mo'ta mo'nax. ' Mar-mo'ta pru-in-o'sus. 



