Marmota monax: The Whistle-pig

The topic of woodchucks, aka groundhogs, aka thickwood badger, Canada marmot, and more (including my favorite, whistle-pig) has come up recently on the Facebook pages of various friends. Most of those friends are trying to prevent the chubby diggers from devouring their garden veggies and sunflowers. Other posts talk about various kinds of property damage. So, for this month’s Creature Thoughts, I thought I would find a few positive things to say about woodchucks.

• Well, they’re cute. But I knew that already.
• They’re important members of the food chain, providing sustenance for a number of larger predators (including those which are endangered in some areas).
• In other places, they have been a traditional food source for people, as well.
• They are valuable to the ecology of field and forest edge; their digging helps to maintain the soil structure for native plants and trees.
• On farms, groundhog excavations improve the soil by turning and aerating it.
• Woodchuck burrows provide shelter for other animals beneficial to rodent and insect control (such as foxes and skunks).
• Although they don’t live in large groups, they do have a complicated social structure. They send a warning when predators are near by standing upright and emitting a shrill whistle (thus the name whistle-pig). Family units work cooperatively to dig and improve burrows. Studies into their behavior have found them to be resilient and quite intelligent.
• And, um…. They’re cute. Kind of like giant guinea pigs with tails.

Of course, there’s always that February 2nd thing in the USA and Canada, but I’m not quite sure how positive that is. I suppose those groundhogs are content enough, as they are fed and sheltered, and never have to worry about predators or starvation. As to being dragged from their burrows before they’re ready to come out of hibernation? Maybe not so pleasant. (I know it’d tick me off.)

My hubby has had a long-standing conflict with the local woodchucks (hubby always gives in eventually). The main issue is that we live in a mobile home, and one of the places our not-always-friendly neighborhood whistle-pigs have chosen to burrow is under the slab that supports our home. We watch till we’re fairly sure any young have left the den, and there are no new signs of habitation. He fills in the hole, and a day or two later it’s all dug back out again.

The concern is that the burrows might undermine the slab. It’s a documented fact that these furry excavators can cause building and property damage. This includes destruction to foundations, though most sources state that it would take a lot of digging, over a lot of years, before a foundation actually shows a problem. A mobile home slab, though? We’d rather not find out, so are trying a variety of deterrents.

(Sidenote: People have suggested trapping and relocating the woodchucks; this is illegal in our state without a nuisance wildlife control license. Please refrain from repeating this recommendation, thank you.)

Personally, I like the chubby beasts. When my last Saluki, Ryder (bless his angel soul), caught a young one many years ago, it completely broke my heart. Since I’m also a wildlife rehabilitator, I was doubly mortified. I reached out to a friend and fellow rehabber with good veterinarian connections, who rushed the little one for care, but it couldn’t be saved. I hugged Ryder and cried on and off for days. I know he was just being a dog and, in his defense, the woodchuck was in Ryder’s own fenced backyard (even with nearly four open, safe, dog-less acres to graze in). I beat myself up royally for not making absolutely sure there were no critters back there before I took the dog outside. At that point, I hadn’t seen a woodchuck at all that season, and had no clue there was a mother with pups in the vicinity. But I still blamed (and still blame) myself.

Here are a few things I learned about woodchucks as I was led down the rabbit … uh, groundhog hole of research.

• Woodchucks are one of the few animals which truly hibernate all winter long. They gorge themselves, often doubling their spring weight, before they head into a long winter’s nap, living off their own body fat till spring.
• It’s believed that the name woodchuck comes from the Algonquin word for the animal, wuchak. The genus name, Monax, is also of Algonquin origin, altered from Móonack, which means “digger.”
• Woodchucks are members of the marmot genus of rodents, which are related to squirrels.
• Their range covers most of the eastern United States (except for parts of the deep south) and much of Canada.
• They will climb trees to escape predators. I actually discovered the woodchuck’s climbing ability on my own a couple of weeks ago. I witnessed a large adult scale the five-foot tall cattle-panel that surrounds my backyard. I had no idea till then that they were accomplished climbers.
• Groundhogs, though primarily herbivorous, will also eat slugs, snails, insects, and even bird’s eggs and nestlings on occasion.
• Groundhog burrows can reach three feet below ground and can be as long as 24 feet long. They often have branches and chambers, including a separate chamber for excrement.
• Woodchucks in the wild live up to six years, with two to three being the average. They give birth once per year. Litters most often contain three to five pups. The babies stay with the mother until around the end of August, when they venture out to establish their own burrows. The male and female don’t stay together beyond breeding, and the father does not help raise the young.
• They are the only available animal model used in research into Hepatitis-B, including Hep-B induced liver cancer.

And of course, a woodchuck would chuck all the would he could, if a woodchuck could chuck wood (according to the version Mom taught me when I was a child).

More About the Woodchuck:

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog
• https://now.tufts.edu/2019/01/28/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-groundhogs
• https://www.brandywine.org/conservancy/blog/groundhogs-celebrating-benefits-hungry-troublemaker

My Ongoing Thanks!

I continue to receive such kind support and encouragement regarding my health issues, that I mustn’t forget to thank you all for your good wishes. I appreciate you so much!