Home » Travel » Pennsylvania » Resident Groundhogs in Pennsylvania

Resident Groundhogs in Pennsylvania

© N. Lou Lyons

On February 2nd each year, tens of thousands of people eagerly anticipate Punxsutawney Phil’s weather prediction for the next six weeks. The main event begins a few hours after midnight at Gobbler’s Knob in Phil’s hometown of Punxsutawny, located in northwestern Pennsylvania. While most of the nation is sleeping, media, music, food, fireworks, and souvenirs highlight the mid-winter festivities there. Around 7:30 a.m. the celebration grows serious. The moment everyone has awaited finally arrives. This is Groundhog Day!

There are many towns throughout North America that observe this occasion with their very own groundhog celebrity. Animal weather forecasters are a belief that dates back centuries, before European immigrants carried the tradition with them to the United States. Facts and legends intermingle to make Groundhog Day what it is today. One fact is clearly evident: Punxsutawney Phil is definitely a groundhog . . . or is he?

These brown furry mammals, also called woodchucks (Marmota monax), are from the family Sciuridae. They are close relatives to squirrels and chipmunks. Groundhogs belong to the same order as beavers and rats. They are rodents; please don’t tell Phil that.

Adult groundhogs weigh an average of about 10 pounds, but weight varies greatly throughout the year. Short, strong legs, and front feet with claws dig burrows in the ground for their homes. Groundhogs usually have two separate dens. One den is used during the summer months, and the other is for the winter season.

The burrow has a main entrance, usually a foot wide. From there, a tunnel reaches down below the frost zone, nearly five feet deep in the earth. The tunnel extends lengthwise, sometimes as much as 30 feet. At the end of the tunnel a nesting room is made. This is the same area used during hibernation. The burrow also has a separate room used as an outhouse, or rather inhouse, or whatever. In addition to the main opening several other tunnels may be made to the surface for quick retreat when the animal is threatened above ground.

Throughout Pennsylvania, groundhogs can be found around fields and open wooded areas. They forage along highways and sometimes end up as a statistic. In the wild their diet consists of mostly tender young plants, roots, and leaves. Groundhogs that build their homes and raise their families near garden plots, farmers' crops, and orchards can become a menace. Alfalfa, soybeans, and clover are easy targets, but when it’s time for dinner, a raid of the fruit, beans, peas, corn, tomatoes, and almost any vegetable available is not out of the question. Broccoli, a recommendation for baiting traps,¹ might just be a favorite meal for them. The groundhog is a game animal and approved damage control methods vary. With just a few exceptions, groundhogs can be hunted in Pennsylvania throughout the year. Their meat is reported to be quite tasty if cooked properly.

The copyright of the article Resident Groundhogs in Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania is owned by . Permission to republish Resident Groundhogs in Pennsylvania in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.