Groundhog, woodchuck -- what's the variation?
Woodchuck and groundhog are common terms for the same animal, the rodent with the systematic name of Marmota monax. Most intimately related to squirrels, woodchucks truly can climb trees and also spin.
What's so special about Feb. 2?
Celestially speaking, Groundhog Day on Feb. 2 is a "cross-quarter" day, about halfway between the winter solstice in December and the ver nal equinox in March, and is celebrated in some cultures as the mid point of winter. It's not far from the time many groundhogs end their hi bernation anyway, around the second week of February.
What's the wake-up call?
The groundhog's internal clock is believed to be pretentious by annual changes in the amount of daylight. Hormonal responses to cyclic changes in production of melatonin, a sleep-related hormone, are thought by some to be the signal to wake up.
Why did groundhog fur coats go out of fashion?
Groundhog fur never was in vogue, partly because it is not particularly thick and warm, and because the fur's grizzled grey-brown appearance is more appealing to others of their species than to people. Groundhog hairs are used for tying trout flies, such as the 'Chuck Caddis, and early Ameri can Indians once used sturdy woodchuck hides for soles of moccasins.
What's going on in that burrow?
In the winter, not much. Groundhogs go into profound hibernation, greatly reducing their metabolic rate, and their body temperature drops to just a few degrees above ambient temperature. Because their hibernaculum, the deepest portion of the burrow where they hibernate, is below frost line, that produces a body temperature as low as 39-40 degrees F.
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
About 700 pounds. Compared to beavers, groundhogs/woodchucks are not adept at moving timber, although some will chew wood. (At Cornell, woodchucks that gnaw their wooden nest boxes are given scraps of 2-by-4 lumber.) A wildlife biologist once measured the inside volume of a typical woodchuck burrow and estimated that -- if wood filled the hole instead of dirt -- the industrious animal would have chucked about 700 pounds' worth.
What's for dinner?
Groundhogs in the wild eat moist green plants, such as dandelion greens, clover, plantain and grasses. They also are tempted by nearby gar den vegetables. At Cornell, they dine on Agway Woodchuck Chow, a simi lar formulation to rabbit feed but in larger-sized pellets. Woodchucks splurge and purposefully put on weight in the summer, reaching their maxi mum mass in late August. They become lethargic and prepare for hiber nation in October. By February, hibernating woodchucks have lost as much as half their body weight.
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