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The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. The groundhog is a lowland creature of North America; it is found through much of the Eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska. It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. The groundhog is also referred to as a chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig, whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk, land beaver, and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux. The name "thickwood badger" was given in the Northwest to distinguish the animal from the prairie badger. Monax (Móonack) is an Algonquian name of the woodchuck, which means "digger" (cf. Lenape monachgeu). Young groundhogs may be called chucklings.: 66  The groundhog, being a lowland animal, is exceptional among marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas. Groundhogs play an important role maintaining healthy soil in woodlands and plains. The groundhog is considered a crucial habitat engineer. Groundhogs are considered the most solitary of the marmot species. They live in aggregations, and their social organization also varies across populations. Groundhogs do not form stable, long-term pair-bonds, and during mating season male-female interactions are limited to copulation. In Ohio, adult males and females associate with each other throughout the year and often from year to year. Groundhogs are an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks, able to understand social behavior, form kinship with their young, understand and communicate threats through whistling, and work cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing. Description The groundhog is by far the largest sciurid in its geographical range, excepting British Columbia where its range may abut that of its somewhat larger cousin, the hoary marmot. Adults may measure from 41.8 to 68.5 cm (16+7⁄16 to 26+15⁄16 in) in total length, including a tail of 9.5 to 18.7 cm (3+3⁄4 to 7+3⁄8 in). Weights of adult groundhogs typically fall between 2 and 6.3 kg (4 lb 7 oz and 13 lb 14 oz). Male groundhogs average slightly larger than females and, like all marmots, they are considerably heavier during autumn (when engaged in autumn hyperphagia) than when emerging from hibernation in spring. Adult males average year-around weight 3.83 kg (8 lb 7 oz), with spring to fall average weights of 3.1 to 5.07 kg (6 lb 13 oz to 11 lb 3 oz) while females average 3.53 kg (7 lb 13 oz), with spring to fall averages of 3.08 to 4.8 kg (6 lb 13 oz to 10 lb 9 oz). Seasonal weight changes indicate circannual deposition and use of fat. Groundhogs attain progressively higher weights each year for the first two or three years, after which weight plateaus. Groundhogs have four incisor teeth, which grow 1.5 millimetres (1⁄16 in) per week. Constant usage wears them down again by about that much each week. Unlike the incisors of many other rodents, the incisors of groundhogs are white to ivory-white.: 20  Groundhogs are well-adapted for digging, with powerful, short legs and broad, long claws. The groundhog's tail is shorter than that of other sciurids—only about one-fourth of body length. Etymology The etymology of the name woodchuck is unrelated to wood or chucking. It stems from an Algonquian (possibly Narragansett) name for the animal, wuchak. The similarity between the words has led to the popular tongue-twister: How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? A woodchuck would chuck all the wood he could if a woodchuck could chuck wood! Distribution and habitat The groundhog prefers open country and the edges of woodland, and is rarely far from a burrow entrance. Marmota monax has a wide geographic range. It can typically be found in small woodlots, low-elevation forests, fields and pastures, and hedgerows. It constructs dens in well-drained soil, and most have summer and winter dens. Human activity has increased food access and abundance, allowing M. monax to thrive. Survival In the wild, groundhogs can live up to six years with two or three being average. In captivity, groundhogs reportedly live up to 14 years. Human development, which often produces openings juxtaposed with second growth trees that are incidentally also favored by groundhogs, often ensures that groundhogs in well-developed areas are nearly free of predators, beyond humans (through various forms of pest control or roadkills) or mid-to-large sized dogs. Wild predators of adult groundhogs in most of eastern North America include coyotes, badgers, bobcats, and foxes (largely only red fox). Many of these predators are successful stealth stalkers so can catch groundhogs by surprise before the large rodents can escape to their burrows; badgers likely hunt them by digging them out from their burrows. Coyotes in particular are sizable enough to overpower any groundhog, with the latter being the third most significant prey species per a statewide study in Pennsylvania. Large predators such as gray wolf and eastern cougar are likely extirpated in the east, but still may hunt groundhogs on occasion in Canada. Golden eagles can also prey on adult groundhogs, but seldom occur in the same range or in the same habitats as this marmot. Likewise, great horned owls can reportedly, per Bent (1938), prey upon groundhogs, but this owl rarely does so, especially given the temporal differences in their behaviors. Young groundhogs (usually those less than a couple months in age) may also be taken by an American mink, perhaps other smallish mustelids, cats, timber rattlesnakes, and hawks. Red-tailed hawks can take groundhogs at least of up to the size of yearling juveniles, and northern goshawks can take them up to perhaps weak emergent-adult groundhogs in the Spring. Beyond their large size, groundhogs have several successful anti-predator behaviors, usually retreating to the safety of their burrow which most predators will not attempt to enter, but also being ready to fight off with their sharp claws and large incisors any who press the attack. They can also scale trees to escape a threat.: 142–143  Occasionally, woodchucks may suffer from parasitism and a woodchuck may die from infestation or from bacteria transmitted by vectors. In areas of intensive agriculture and the dairying regions of the state of Wisconsin, particularly in its southern parts, the woodchuck by 1950 had been almost extirpated.: 124  Jackson (1961) suggested that exaggerated reports of damage done by the woodchuck led to excessive culling, substantially reducing its numbers in the state. In some areas woodchucks are important game animals and are killed regularly for sport, food, or fur. In Kentucky, an estimated 267,500 M. monax were taken annually from 1964 to 1971.: 143  Woodchucks had protected status in the state of Wisconsi.... Discover the Charles Fergus Amelia Hansen popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Charles Fergus Amelia Hansen books.