Facts about the groundhog: Nine fun facts about the groundhog | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

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Nine fun facts about the groundhog | Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

January 31, 2020

Darren Fava

Philadelphia Parks & Recreation

Every February 2, Americans celebrate Groundhog Day. On that day, Punxsutawney Phil, a Pennsylvania groundhog, predicts how many weeks of winter remain. While you’ve likely heard about this fun legend, what else do you know about this native rodent? Parks & Rec’s Tony Croasdale, Environmental Educator at Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center, complied nine fun facts for you:

Groundhogs are squirrels. They are the largest of five squirrel (Sciuridae) species in Philadelphia. Specifically, they are a species of marmot, which are part of the ground squirrels. The other squirrel species include Eastern Gray Squirrel, American Red Squirrel, Southern Flying Squirrel, and Eastern Chipmunk.
Laying low. The groundhog is the only marmot species that lives in lowland temperate regions. The other species all live in mountains or tundra.
Burrow BNB. Groundhogs live in burrows that they dig themselves. Abandoned groundhog burrows are often used by other animals like foxes.
Going up. Groundhogs can climb trees like other squirrels.
A groundhog by any other name… Groundhogs are also called woodchucks, thick woods badgers, and whistlepigs. Their scientific name is Marmota monax.
So, do they really throw wood? The name Woodchuck does not refer to the ability to “chuck wood.” It is an English interpretation of the Algonquin word “wucack,” which means digger. Whistlepig refers to the whistling noise groundhogs make to warn each other of predators.
Allow us to badger you with one more name. Groundhogs were also called the “Thick Woods Badger.” This helped separate them from the (sort of) similar-looking American Badger. Badgers, like ferrets, are a type of weasel and not rodents.
In the movies. In The Big Lebowski, Jeff Bridges’s character The Dude incorrectly refers to a European Ferret as a “nice marmot.” John Goodman’s character Walter refers to it as an “aquatic rodent. ” Marmots (including groundhogs) are rodents but are not aquatic. A groundhog can be accurately described as a nice marmot.
Celebrated in song. The legendary Philadelphia band The Dead Milkmen’s “Badger Song” mentions woodchucks.

Young groundhog. Photo by Frank Windfelder.

Groundhog Photos and Facts

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Groundhog pups leave their mom and head out on their own when they’re about two months old.

Photograph by Mircea Costina / Alamy

Common Name:: Groundhog
Scientific Name:: Marmota monax
Type:: Mammals
Diet:: Herbivore
Size:: Head and body: 17.75 to 24 inches; tail: 7 to 9.75 inches
Weight:: 13 pounds

Phil the groundhog is a star! Well, at least on February 2 he is. Phil lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where every Groundhog Day people wait for him to come out of his burrow. Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter will follow.

Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs spend much of their days alone, foraging for plants and grasses and digging burrows up to 66 feet long. So though Phil might be a celebrity once a year, the rest of the time he probably prefers his me-time.

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Groundhogs often burrow under open areas such as meadows and farmlands, which can make the critter a nuisance to farmers. But burrows are super important to groundhogs—and their ecosystem.

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Burrows are where the rodents sleep, raise their babies, and even poop. (They actually have separate bathrooms!) Burrows also provide protection from predators such as coyotes, hawks, and black bears.

(Check out a galley of more animals that burrow.)

And it’s not just the groundhog that uses its burrow—animals like rabbits, chipmunks, and snakes move in once a groundhog has moved out. Plus, burrowing is good for habitats: Digging aerates, or provides oxygen to, the soil, which helps plants better absorb nutrients that help them grow.

Deep sleep

So can groundhogs really predict when spring is coming? Nope. The rodents enter their burrows to hibernate in the winter and come back out around the same time every year. Males poke their heads out in early February—not to forecast more winter weather, but to claim their territory.

In the spring, females give birth in their dens to about three to five pups. But they don’t hang out for long. By around two months old, they’re off on their own—whether they see their shadows or not.

Interesting facts from the life of a groundhog, an Outstanding Weather Seer

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Interesting facts from the life of a groundhog, an Outstanding Weather Seer

Interesting facts from the life of a groundhog, an Outstanding Weather Seer – RIA Novosti , 02.02.2012

Interesting facts from the life of the Groundhog, the Outstanding Weather Seer

Folk holiday Groundhog Day is celebrated today in the USA and Canada. On this day, a sleepy animal is pulled out of its hole to find out when spring will come. According to… RIA Novosti, 02.02.2012

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National holiday Groundhog Day is celebrated today in the USA and Canada. On this day, a sleepy animal is pulled out of its hole to find out when spring will come. According to legend, if the groundhog does not see his shadow and calmly crawls out of the hole, spring will be early; if the animal does not come out of the hole, the winter will last longer than usual. While the Americans are just getting ready for the holiday, the marmot Busya, who lives in the Tomskaya Pisanitsa nature reserve in the Kemerovo region, has already given her forecast: she refused to leave the hole, thus promising the Siberians an early spring.

Phil’s Living Conditions

The very first official groundhog weatherman is Phil, who lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Glory came to him in 1993, after the release of the film “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell in the lead roles. Already in 1997, 35 thousand people came to see Phil.

Phil the groundhog of Turkey Hill belongs to the woodchuck species, although it lives mostly in the open plain. The role of weather forecaster was inherited by the North American groundhog from other hibernating animals: the hedgehog, whose day was celebrated in ancient Rome, and the badger, which the North Germans who settled in Pennsylvania considered the weather forecaster.

The groundhog’s name was not chosen immediately. At first it was just “The Groundhog from Punxsutawney”, later he was called Pete, and then the groundhog became Phil. His full and official name is as follows: Phil of Punxsutawney – Clairvoyant of Clairvoyants, Sage of Wise Men, Foreteller of Foretellers, and Outstanding Weather Seer. And Punxsutawney itself bears the title of “World Weather Capital”.

It is believed that Phil whispers the forecast to the members of his club in a special groundhog language, and they already state it in a form understandable to people. As its popularity grows, the groundhog allows itself to comment on more than just the weather. He reacts vividly to social and political problems. For example, during Prohibition, Phil threatened that if he was not allowed to drink, the winter would last not 6, but all 60 weeks.

Phil is surrounded by many legends. For example, no one knows how old he really is, but he has been predicting the weather for 121 years. According to legend, during the summer at a picnic held by members of the Phil Club, the animal drinks a special elixir that prolongs its life by another 7 years. By the way, Phil has three understudies who replace him when he is not in a good mood or busy with his own business.

A certain temperature is constantly maintained in Phil’s hole, and veterinarians monitor his health. Phil eats greens, fruits and vegetables, loves dog food. The groundhog house has areas for sleeping, walking, playing and eating. People can watch him through special windows.

The February 2 ceremony breaks the groundhog’s hibernation. The celebration begins at night, in front of thousands of people, the president of the club wakes up the groundhog. Take it out of the cage with a special steel glove. First, Phil is placed on a special stage so that everyone can look at him, then a photo session and a tour to the city center for festive festivities follow. Only at the end of the day does Phil return home.

In the summer, Phil goes on tour. With his trainers, he travels to American schools with a special program. At 19In 86, the groundhog even visited the White House for a reception with President Ronald Reagan. In 2006, Phil appeared in a commercial for Absolut vodka, and before that, he advertised for beer, a Sega video game console, and cereal. Proceeds from the sale of soft marmot toys allowed the organizers of the holiday to buy the territory of Turkey Hill with an area of more than seven hectares for $ 75,000. Before that, it was rented.

However, Phil has competitors. For example, Chuck is the official New York weather groundhog. There are also fortune-tellers in Canada: a festival is held every year in honor of Willy from the village of Wiarton in Ontario. In the summer of 2006, the Viartona animal died. He was replaced by another albino marmot. His name is also Willy. He took his rightful place in a special house, the device of which cost $20,000.

Lazy and sleepy

There are 15 species of marmots on the planet. In Eurasia, researchers identify 8 species of marmots, which, on the one hand, have much in common, on the other hand, have their own characteristics. Marmots are vegetarians, they live in burrows and almost always live in colonies. There are plains and mountain marmots living in especially difficult conditions with early winters and short summers.

These animals have short but powerful legs adapted for burrowing where they spend most of their lives. In the area where the marmot lives, there can be a lot of holes in order to have time to hide in one if necessary. Danger can drive a groundhog even up a tree. In summer, the groundhog’s favorite pastime is lying in the sun. You can often see these animals standing in a column. In the wild, marmots have a lifespan of up to 15 years.

Marmots are rarely kept in captivity. Groundhogs are very loyal to their owner, but they can be aggressive towards other people. In medieval Europe, for example, teenagers with tame marmots amused the public at fairs, forcing them to stand up, squat, climb on their legs. The song “And my groundhog with me” is just from those times.

In winter, marmots hibernate. There is even an expression “sleeps like a groundhog.” This comparison is entirely justified. So, the American groundhog sleeps for 4-5 months. The further north a groundhog lives, the longer he sleeps and the deeper his sleep. Groundhog is also called a bobak. In Dahl’s dictionary, such a second meaning of this word is given: “a sleepy, dense, undersized, clumsy person, lazy and sleepy.” Outwardly, marmots really seem clumsy and fat. In fact, they are quite agile, stubborn and try to achieve their goal at any cost.

They do not hibernate and eat a lot. Interesting facts from the life of marmots | NATURE AND ANIMALS | SOCIETY

02.02.2023 00:01

Antonina Afanasyeva

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

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Weekly “Arguments and Facts” No. 5. “AiF-Tula” 01/02/2023

Tatyana Shanshina / Tula Exotarium

Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2 in different countries. The behavior of this animal determines what spring will be like. If it is cloudy and the groundhog, crawling out of the hole, does not see its shadow and calmly leaves the hole, then winter will soon end, and spring will be early. If the day is sunny and the rodent is afraid of its own shadow, hides back into the hole, then the winter will last.

The Tula zoo has its own “predictors” – marmots Seryozha and Natasha. True, they do not hibernate, like their brothers from the wild – the temperature does not drop so much, therefore there is no need to survive the winter.

Marmots in the “friend zone”

The couple lives in an aviary in the old zoo building, sleeps a lot and is very sensitive to food. Fluffy rodents eat vegetables and nutrient mixtures.

Today they have carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, apples for lunch. The marmots look well-fed and slowly approach the food. Seryozha is bigger than Natasha and more active. But the female, as the workers say, sleeps all the time. The weight of each of them is about 4 kg, the length is up to 60 cm.

The Tula marmots have only friendship. Photo: Tula Exotarium / Tatyana Shanshina

“Marmots live in captivity for about eight years, in the wild – less,” says public relations specialist Alena Akimova. – Now the habitat of marmots can be called mosaic, they mostly remained in nature reserves, since human activity in the steppe, for example, plowing land, is detrimental to them. Once they were actively exterminated, because of the hunting for fur and the threat to some crops.

…Seryozha and Natasha notice people who have apparently come too close to their enclosure with food and begin to show their displeasure: they rise on their hind legs, rest against the glass and close the food from prying eyes.

“They can bite, and strongly, their incisors are strong,” Alena warns. “So they have a nanny who knows how to properly communicate with them and how to feed them.”

Groundhog Day

Now the habitat of marmots can be called mosaic, they mostly remained in nature reserves
© Tula Exotarium / Tatyana Shanshina

Groundhog Day

Now the habitat of marmots can be called mosaic, they mostly remained in nature reserves
© Tula Exotarium / Tatyana Shanshina

We are interested in the offspring, but it is not, and, apparently, will not be. As the zoo staff themselves joke, the groundhogs have an “eternal friend zone”, that is, they are only friends and nothing serious.

By the way, the story is the same for the porcupines in the new building in Central Park.

People’s favorites

Despite the fact that groundhogs are very charming and sweet, they are far from the most popular inhabitants of the zoo. Here, a vote is held monthly, in which visitors are invited to choose the most popular pet. The palm is almost always given to the Fenech. It is followed by owls, macaques named Minister and pygmy marmosets.

Everyone’s favorite fennec. Photo: AiF / Romanov Kirill

In the new building, visitors also like to watch mammals more, but they want to buy reptiles and insects.

“Requests vary from traditional “sell lizards or cockroaches” to unexpected “catch crickets,” Alena says. “Sometimes this food escapes us and stays alive. We don’t mind letting people catch them. But we can’t feed our pets. This is the most common request, but our animals are not designed for that. They have their own diet and diet, which should not be violated. Believe it or not, even fish can get fat. Therefore, even koi, which are always ready to eat, we eat according to the schedule.”

Those same carps-gluttons. Photo: Tula Exotarium

There are also unusual claims: they say that our crocodile caiman is not real, but the plastic one, they say, is just a model.