10 



KOETH AMEEICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 37. 



William Hubbell Fisher excavated and measured nine burrows of 

 tbe woodobuck in Lems County, N. Y., a.nd has published a detailed 

 description of them, with diagrams. The longest burrow which he 

 examined measured (including side branches) 44 feet 9 J- inches; the 

 shortest, 6 feet 8 J inches; the deepest burrow was 49 inches below 

 the surface; the shallowest, 23 inches.^ 



No description of the burrows of the yellow-footed marmot has 

 come to the writer's notice, and the only known account of those of 

 the hoary marmots is that given by William H. Wright in his work 

 on the grizzly bear. Describing the manner in which a grizzly had 

 opened up a den of these marmots, he says : 



The den ran in under several layers of loose flat rocks, some of wMch were two or 

 three feet long by half as many wide, and several inches thick. These he had 

 ripped out easily and thi'own down hill, and the dht and small bowlders had been 

 hurled out and now covered the snow all about for a space of ten or twelve feet. 



On the rocks and snow were large spots and blotches of blood, telling of the feast 

 that had rewarded his labors, and that there had been more than one marmot was 

 shown by the numerous tracks. These animals had burrowed down some six or seven 

 feet into the side of the mountain, and under a large flat stone they had scooped 

 out a little cave, some three feet in diameter, where they had a soft bed of grasses 

 that they had carried in. When the grizzly broke his way into their home there 

 had been a great rush for freedom. 



The marks in the snow indicated that all the marmots had been 

 devoured by the bear.^ 



HIBERNATION, 



All the species hibernate for periods varying from 4 to 6 months. 

 Merriam states that in New York, along the western border of the 

 Adirondacks, the woodchuck usually goes into winter quarters 

 between the 18th and 25th of September and reappears the middle 

 or latter part of March; in early springs following mild winters, he 

 adds, '^woodchucks occasionally appear in February, but reenter 

 their burrows and again become dormant if the temperature falls." ^ 

 Bachman states that he once observed a woodchuck in New York 

 State on October 23 sunning himseK at the mouth of his burrow, and 

 also in the same State saw one killed by a dog on March 1 ^ Extreme 

 dates of occurrence for this region are: February 22, Adirondack 

 Mountains, N. Y., specimen in the Merriam collection; and Novem- 

 ber 20, Fort Miller, N. Y., one seen by Dr. E. A. Mearns.^ In the 

 more southern States, hibernation covers a shorter period, as indicated 

 by the occurrance of the animals at the base of Roan Mountain, 

 N. C, as early as February 7 and as late as October 23. Other dates 



1 Fisher, W. H. Jour. Cincinnati Soc. Nat. Hist., XVI, 1893, pp. 105-123. 



2 Wright, W. H. The Grizzly Bear, London, 1909, p. 82. 



3 Merriam, C. H. Mamm. of the Adirondacks, Trans. Linn. Soc. N. Y., II, 1884, pp. 143-144. 



4 Audubon & Bachman. Quad. N. Am. 1, 1819, p. 20. 

 BMeai-ns, E.A. Bui. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist., X, 1898, p. 337. 



