s woodchucks, these furry little critters are found in Alaska, southern Canada and the eastern United States. The ground hog in this picture made it's home in my backyard.Ground hogs rarely venture far from their burrows. An intricate network of tunnels, these burrows have an average of three or four holes, and den pipes will be anywhere from 15 to 20 feet in length.
Breeding season begins mid-February when ground hogs come out of hibernation. After a gestation period of about a month, a litter of 2-9 pups is born. They will stay with their mother until midsummer, when they go out to dig their own dens.
Ground hogs are vegetarians. They will eat flowers, leaves, soft grasses, carrots, peas, and more. They will eat as much as three fourths of a pound of food a day. When they are about to go into hibernation, they will really kick into eating overdrive.
Most groundhogs live only a year or less, but some lucky ones can live to be three or four years old.
Now, you may have heard of Ground Hog Day. That is the day when Punxsutawney Phil the ground hog is brought out and everyone crowds around to see if Phil will see his shadow. If he does, winter will continue. If he doesn't, then spring is just around the corner. Though it's a fun idea, I think it's a little silly. spring will come when spring will come. It has nothing to do with a ground hog in Pennsylvania on February 2nd.
sources: http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/groundhog/meet/meet.html
http://www.terrierman.com/lifehabitatgh.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment