Groundhog is what kind of animal

Baby groundhogs! Infants stick around home for only about two to three months after being born in mid-April, and then they disperse and leave mom's burrow. However, a significant proportion - thirty five percent - of females stick around longer, leaving home just after their first birthdays, right before mom's new litter arrives.

Family values. In general, groundhog social groups consist of one adult male and two adult females, each with an offspring from the previous breeding season usually female , and the current litter of infants. Interactions within a female's group are generally friendly. But interactions between female groups - even when those groups are shared by the same adult male - are rare and aggressive. Even though daddy woodchuck doesn't live at home, from the breeding season through the first month of the infants' lives, he visits each of his female groups every day.

Medical models. Groundhogs happen to be a good animal model for the study of hepatitis B-induced liver cancer. In fact, if infected with Woodchuck Hepatitis B virus, the animal will always go on to develop liver cancer, making them useful for the study both of liver cancer and of hepatitis B.

Look up! Though they spend most of their time on or under the ground, groundhogs can also climb trees. Eskimo kisses. Compact, chunky bodies covered in fur with a short tail; forefeet have long, curved claws for digging burrows.

Adult groundhogs range anywhere from 16 to 22 inches in length and weigh anywhere between five and 13 pounds. Their bodies are compact and chunky, and covered in brownish gray fur with a short tail. Groundhogs have four legs and t heir front feet also have long, curved claws for digging burrows.

There is no difference between a groundhog and a woodchuck. In fact , the terms woodchuck and groundhog are interchangeable. Photo of a groundhog in a residential yard. Groundhogs sometimes den in crawlspaces, so it is important to inspect the outside of the home for access points, such as broken vent covers or holes in the foundation. Homeowners should seal all cracks and crevices with caulk, repair any loose siding and install a mesh cover over chimneys and other exposed openings.

If a n infestation is suspected, contact a lic ensed pest control professional to recommend the best method to get rid of a groundhog. Wild animals pose serious health risks like physical attacks that cause bodily harm and the transmission of rabies.

For more information on nuisance wildlife, check out the wildlife pest guides. Groundhogs sometimes den in crawlspaces, so it is important to inspect the outside of your home for access points, such as broken vent covers or holes in the foundation. Groundhogs are known to burrow in fields and pastures, along fences and roadsides, and near building foundations or the bases of trees, leaving mounds of soil at the dig site.

Groundhogs are primarily active during daylight hours, usually feeding in the early morning. They are strict herbivores and eat a variety of vegetables including soybeans, beans, peas, carrot tops, alfalfa and grasses. Now, PETA is arguing to replace groundhogs with robot groundhogs equipped with artificial intelligence that detects shadows. Groundhogs have many colorful names, including "whistle-pig" for their tendency to emit short, high-pitched whistles.

They're also known as land beavers, but their most famous nickname is woodchuck. Surprisingly, the name woodchuck doesn't have anything to do with wood.

It's thought to be a corruption of the Native American words wejack , woodshaw , or woodchoock. It may have its roots in the Algonquian or perhaps Narragansett name for the animal: wuchak. Other sources claim it's a bastardization of the Cree word otchek for "fisher" or the Ojibwe ojiig , also for "fisher" or "marten," which Europeans appropriated and misapplied to the groundhog.

A groundhog's burrow can be anywhere from eight to 66 feet long, with multiple exits and a number of chambers. There can be several levels to their burrows, says Zervanos. Those impressive tunneling skills make for great burrows, but they can also mean big headaches for those who work in agriculture. And since the animals are herbivores—and prefer tender, young greens—they can make nuisances of themselves by raiding crops. But some can be more discerning.

Unlike some of their cousins, such as prairie dogs, groundhogs are basically loners, seeking out their own kind only to mate. Groundhogs are known as "true hibernators," going into a dormant state—in which their body temperature and heart rate fall dramatically—from late fall until late winter or early spring.

Instead, groundhogs go through bouts of "torpor," when their body temperature drops to about five degrees Celsius, he says. Groundhogs hibernate from late fall for roughly three months, then wake up when it's still quite cold.

But it turns out they have a very good reason to drag themselves out of bed. They can hibernate, burrow and, most importantly, destroy your garden when feeding.

For groundhogs, preparing for hibernation season means stocking up on food sources. During the summer and fall months, groundhogs can spend a lot of their time eating their way through your garden and their burrowing behaviors can cause widespread issues with ground stability i.

As herbivores, they enjoy vegetables, grasses, fruit and tree barks. This includes beans, peas, carrots and grass, among other items. All this feeding allows groundhogs to store fat reserves for winter hibernation. From October through breeding season in March , groundhogs hibernate in burrows underground. During this time, their heart rates can drop significantly, from 75 to only four beats per minute.

While hibernation months can provide your yard with temporary peace, chaos can strike as soon as spring arrives and hungry animals emerge from their burrow in search of mates and food. Groundhogs have a reputation for being able to predict spring weather before it arrives. The legend originally called Candlemas Day began in Europe and was brought to America when the Germans arrived in Pennsylvania in the s. The legend states that, if the groundhog sees a shadow i.

In most cases, the groundhogs have seen their shadows. While Terminix may not treat for groundhogs or woodchucks, contact us for more info on our offerings. You might not see them.