Groundhog                

Introduction

The Groundhog is a medium sized chubby animal 13-24 inches long and weighs 5-14 pounds. The groundhog is a shy reclusive animal that prefers flat, empty fields where it digs long and deep burrows and with dried leaves in its sleeping chamber. It is said that it can dig a 5-foot tunnel in a day. The Groundhog is not territorial and tends to live in loose association with other Groundhogs. It is active above ground for only an hour or two each day to sun itself and to feed on nearby foliage. It has excellent eyesight and a very nervous disposition, ready to flee to its burrow at any sign of danger. Groundhogs are good swimmers and climbers.

Traditionally, the groundhog is supposed to awaken on February 2 and come out of his burrow. If he sees his shadow, he will return to his burrow for six more weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, he remains outside and starts his year, because he knows that spring has arrived.

Food Habits

Groundhogs are strictly vegetarians and eat herbaceous plants such as clover, dandelions, chickweed, golden rod, daisies, and grasses. They also nibble twigs of woody shrubs, eat garden vegetables such as beans and peas, and eat apples.

Family Life

Males begin to wake from hibernation January-March and begin to wander looking for females to mate, Usually each male mates with more than one female. As the birth time approaches, the female makes a nest of leaves in one chamber of her burrow system and aggressively keeps other Groundhogs away from her burrow system. The young are born March-May with an average of 4-6 in a litter. For the first 4 weeks, the young stay in the nest and are nursed. The mother also brings them fresh greens. They play with each otter and stay near their mother until about July when she drives them off. Late in the fall, they move further away and establish their own ranges.

Winter Habits

In July, Groundhogs begin to acquire a layer of fat that will sustain them during hibernation. They may shift from summer burrows which are more in the open to winder burrows which are in more protected shrub and wooded area. Sometimes several Ground Hogs hibernate in the same burrow.

Threats

The groundhog's main enemies are eagles, snakes, bears, coyotes, cats, and humans.

Benefits

Groundhogs are not aggressive and can be fun to watch.

Problems and Solutions

Groundhogs can be garden pests and can climb fences. You can buy repellent or use hot pepper spray to deter them from eating your vegetables. They also can riddle your yard with burrows that change its contour. You can purchase fox urine or fox urine scented granules to pour into burrow holes or on the area you want to protect.