What Are Woodchucks?
How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? This riddle has been around for a longtime, usually teachers in most elementary schools would introduce this riddle. However, to solve this ask What is a woodchuck?” “How do they chuck wood?” “Where are they found?”
Woodchucks or (scientifically named) Marmota monax, are from the marmot family. The Marmot family is a group of “14 different giant, squirrel species” (Marmot). They have long thick fur according to the article. Depending on the location, they’re often referred to as groundhogs or whistle pigs.
They have large incisors that help them chuck things just like beavers. According to the article (About Woodchucks) groundhogs can “grow up to about 20 inches” and can have a “tail as long as 6 inches”. The article also stated that they have “short muscular legs for digging”.
Their speed however is very slow so they don’t stray far from their dens. whenever they sense danger from predators they scurry quickly to their dens. Another thing the article states is that they have a “life span of about five to six years”. (About Woodchucks).
Incisors, sounds like scissors. Incisors are four front teeth that are huge; two at the top and two at the bottom. They are used to chop food up, much like how scissors cut paper. Woodchucks use these blade like teeth to chop up tough material; namely wood. However they often eat berries, maple bark, grasses, vegetables, and sweet maple bark.
Don’t think they’re herbivores though because, they eat all types of bugs. Although they have razor sharp teeth, their height puts them at a major disadvantage against predators. The primary predators are “hawks, foxes, coyotes, bobcats, dogs and humans.” Stated by (How to Get Rid of Groundhogs: Woodchuck Facts, Photos, Info).
Additional information to know is, during their life spans, they put on weight right before October for hibernation. Like any other hibernating animal, they stock on food before they go to sleep/(hibernate ) into their burrow. Their burrows are about “two to six feet deep“ and “forty feet wide with many chambers” (About Woodchucks)._another thing to know they don’t mate until march Orr April. In fact its the only period that they do come in contact. The article stated “…no further contact; the female raises the young alone.” (About Woodchucks).
lastly, February 2nd. What’s that ? Its Groundhog day. Ground hog day is a day of celebration for the completion of groundhogs hibernating. People say that when it pops out its burrow its suppose to predict the weather. The article states “If the groundhog sees its shadow and returns to its burrow, there will be six more weeks of winter. But, if the animal does not see its shadow, then spring is right around the corner.
”(How to Get Rid of Groundhogs: Woodchuck Facts, Photos, Info). Now for that answer to the riddle supposedly “New York state wildlife expert Richard Thomas found that a woodchuck could (and does) chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course of digging a burrow. Thomas reasoned that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck an amount equivalent to the weight of the dirt, or 700 pounds.” Stated by (How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?,2011).
Author: Therese Jaeger
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Works cited
- About Woodchucks. (n.d.). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://www.massaudubon.org/learn/nature-wildlife/mammals/woodchucks-groundhogs/about
- How to Get Rid of Groundhogs: Woodchuck Facts, Photos, Info. (n.d.). Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.pestworld.org/pest-guide/nuisance-wildlife/groundhogs
- How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? (2011, October 13). Retrieved October 31, 2020, from https://mylandplan.org/content/how-much-wood-would-woodchuck-chuck-if-woodchuck-could-chuck-wood
- Marmot. (n.d.). Retrieved November 01, 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/animal/marmot
