GENERAL NOTES 
261 
ago 1 saw a very large one in the top of a black walnut, where it had also taken 
refuge from the dogs. While such cases may be uncommon, no doubt there are 
many other observers who have seen woodchucks climb trees “Cleveland P. 
Hickman, West Virginia University, Morgantown, W, Va, 
MORE TREE-CLIMBING WOODCHUCKS 
The note in the November Journal of Mammalogy on a Tree-Climbing Wood- 
Chuck by Mr. Harold St. John recalls an experience of the past summer. I was 
engaged in listing the birds of the new Allegany State Park, Cattaraugus County, 
New York, when one day, July 16, 1921, 1 came upon a woodchuck {Marmota monax 
prehlorum) about ten feet up in a dogwood tree. I had not seen the animal climb 
there, and do not know whether it climbed there because of my approach or was 
already there when I approached. The tree was about six inches in diameter, and 
leaned somewhat to the south which was the downhill side. This tree was in the 
midst of a large sized patch of woodland, and a considerable distance from any open 
country. I tossed a few sticks at the animal expecting it to jump or run down the 
tree, but while it seemed frightened, it seemed also unwilling to leave the tree. 
After this experience I asked others who lived in that vicinity the question 
*‘Have you ever seen a woodchuck climb a tree”? Almost invariably I got the 
answer ‘^Yes,” with a statement that they often did it to escape enemies. Re- 
turning to my home in southern Connecticut I tried the question on people in that 
vicinity with the answer that they had never heard of such a thing, most of them 
adding that woodchucks seldom were found near trees. From this experience I 
concluded that the tree-climbing habit in woodchucks is somethingthat is decidedly 
local, belonging chiefly to animals that live in wooded regions, rather than to those 
that live in open count ry.“AEETAS A. Saunders, Fairfield, Conn. 
THE TREE-CLIMBING HABITS OP WOODCHUCKS 
In the Journal of Mammalogy for November, 1921, there is a photograph and 
an excellent description of a ^‘Tree-Climbing Woodchuck.” I did not know that 
it was considered unusual for woodchucks to climb trees, but some of my friends 
think it is. 
As a boy and young man, I lived in the hilly region of southwestern Pennsyl- 
vania where woodchucks were very common, often becoming a nuisance. 1 now 
recall five instances of woodchucks climbing trees. They were all put up by 
dogs and I observed them in every case. The first live woodchuck that I ever saw 
was one that a big dog ran up a butternut tree that grew along the border of a 
woods. The chuck was not full grown, but it went to a height of about 15 feet. 
My oldest brother climbed the tree and shook it down. A few years later, 1 was 
one day walking with my father through a woods containing almost a pure stand 
of white oak trees. Our dog got between a woodchuck and its burrow and chased 
it up one of the trees. This oak was nearly two feet in diameter with no 
branches for nearly 30 feet. The chuck continued to the first stopping place, a 
large lateral branch or open fork. My father threw two or three stones at it, but 
failed to hit it. The animal kept looking down at the barking dog and as it did so, 
it began to shake and wobble and finally tumbled to the ground. This would in- 
dicate, to me, that woodchucks are not familiar with high climbing. This one 
