Marmota Monax, Groundhog or Woodchuck?

Some interesting and positive information on woodchucks (groundhogs), which are often seen as a nuisance:

Woodchucks climb trees—ascending and descending headfirst—to escape enemies and to reach fruits and succulent leaves.

Woodchucks provide a great amount of wildlife habitat with the tunnels they dig. Skunks, opossums, raccoons and foxes occupy and remodel vacant burrows and use them to rear young. Rabbits hide in the burrows. Many smaller animals, including small rodents, reptiles, and amphibians, spend much or part of their lives in woodchuck burrows. The woodchucks' digging also loosens and aerates the soil.

Text modified from Wildlife of Pennsylvania and the Northeast by Charles Fergus. Photo taken by WPC Aquatic Ecologist Mandy Smith at the Sideling Hill Creek Center.

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