A10

Elizabeth Walsh - Nature Notes

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How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

I simply do not know, because they don't chuck wood, but if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could.

The woodchuck, also known as a groundhog, is one of Canada's largest true hibernators. The woodchuck is a mammal belonging to the Rodentia order. Rodents are characterized by their continuously growing incisors, which must be kept short by gnawing. This group includes mice, rats, squirrels, prairie dogs and chipmunks, to name a few. Among all the rodents found within Canada, only the porcupine and the beaver are larger than the woodchuck.

Woodchucks weigh 2-4 kg and are larger in the fall of the year just before they hibernate. From nose to rump they measure 40 to 65 cm and have a 15 cm bushy tail. The majority of groundhogs are a medium brown in colour but fur colouration does range anywhere between yellowish to dark (almost black) brown.

Groundhogs are known as hole-digging mammals. The holes are considered to be nuisances to landowners but other animals greatly benefit from the shelter provided by these holes. Some animals that use woodchuck holes as shelter are raccoons, foxes, skunks, rabbits and snakes.

In one year, a woodchuck makes two separate homes: one for the summer, where it will nest, and one for the winter, where it will hibernate. Its summer burrow is usually found in open areas such as fields, clearings, pastures and meadows, surrounded by a large amount of grass and short plants that will provide an adequate food supply. Winter burrows are found close to woody or brushy areas, and will be deep enough to go below the frost line.

A burrow consists of a main entrance, one or more spy holes that can be used for quick escape, a nesting chamber, and a toilet chamber. The nesting chamber is lined with grass and measures approximately 30 cm high and 45 cm wide.

Breeding occurs shortly after the groundhogs emerge from hibernation in March. After a gestation period of about 30 days young woodchucks are born, usually in a litter of four, in May. As with other rodents, the young are born blind and without fur. At 28 days, their eyes will open for the first time. They will start to come out of the nursing burrow at about five to six weeks of age. This is the same time that they will have a diet of solid food and be weened from their mother's milk.

Woodchucks primarily eat green vegetation, which consists of clover, alfalfa, a variety of wild plants and even garden vegetables. In the spring of the year, they will also eat some bark and branches because they are softer.

By the end of the summer, woodchucks go on a feeding frenzy to fatten up for their long hibernation. As soon as we have weather that causes freezing conditions, the adult woodchucks will go into hibernation. It is believed that the young wait a little while longer, so that they can have an appropriate amount of time to fatten. The first hibernators usually begin their sleep in late September to early October.

In hibernation, they are able to slow down all their bodily functions. Their body temperature lowers to 3 degrees C, just above freezing, their heartbeat slows from 80 beats per minute to four beats, and their body will be sustained on their accumulated fat reserves for the entire winter.

There is an old fable that has come to Canada from Europe which states that if a groundhog comes out of its burrow on Feb. 2 and sees its shadow, it will return to sleep and we will have six more weeks of winter. If, however, he does not see his shadow, he will stay active and awake and will signal that we will have an early spring. Unfortunately, the likelihood that the Groundhog will even come out of its burrow on Feb. 2 is very low, as they do not come out of hibernation until sometime in March.