They’re the biggest. Or the fastest. Or the most respected or fearsome.
But when it comes to advertising, this rodent takes the position of any other wild species.
These are groundhogs.
Think about it for a moment: each and every American can call you. It is the subject of a hit film starring Bill Murray. And what other animal has a date on the calendar in his honor?
On February 2 of the year, photographs of groundhogs are published in electronic and printed newspapers as part of a long-standing folk tradition.
Don’t get me wrong. If you see a dress image with a little hat, that’s not normal.
The groundhog also does not leave its burrow in the middle of winter, or the one that happens to be a meteorologist.
Groundhogs, also known as wooden groundhogs and hissing pigs, are true hibernators; enter their burrows last fall and, with the exception of brief periods of underground activity, keep their growth rate and body temperature very low until March or April.
And no one to leave its cozy rooms to pass out in the snowy landscape and check its shadow.
But they were appropriated through humans (it is a Dutch culture of Pennsylvania that has its roots in Germany) by the superstition of groundhog day.
“This is one of his saving graces,” said David Drake, UW-Extension Wildlife Specialist and Associate Professor in the Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology and UW-Madison. “Without February 2nd, fewer people would know about groundhogs. “
Marmota Day is rooted in the ancient Christian culture of candlelight, according to History. com, when the clergy blessed and distributed candles for winter. The candles represented the duration and bloodless of winter.
The Germans developed this concept by settling into an animal, described in the texts as a badger, a bear or a hedgehog, as a means of predicting time.
German settlers in Pennsylvania continued the culture, but switched to groundhog, an abundant animal in Keystone state. The other people at Gobblerer’s Knob in Punxsutawney convened the first Groundhog Day birthday party in the United States on February 2, 1887.
The culture is as follows: if a groundhog emerges from its hollow and sees its shadow on February 2, it foreshadows another six weeks of winter, when there is no shade in early spring.
Dozens of sites across the country are holding Groundhog Day events with captive groundhogs with names such as Punxsutawney Phil, Chattanooga Chuck (in Tennessee) and Essex Ed(New Jersey) that are getting rid of their rooms for their 15 minutes of annual celebrity fame. .
Gordy the Groundhog is the existing star of the Milwaukee County Zoo and, due to the coronavirus pandemic, will be virtual this year.
Jimmy the Groundhog in Wisconsin made national headlines in 2015 when he bit the ear of Sun Prairie Mayor Jon Freund, the animal’s owner reportedly held it in Freund’s ear to “murmur” the prognosis.
I think Jimmy’s message is pretty clear: “Give me back to my room so I can hibernate in peace. “
This is what wild groundhogs have been doing lately.
The species is, along with listed squirrels, bats and some others, one of Wisconsin’s true hibernators. They live in burrows 1. 50 meters deep and can grow 60 feet or more.
And although they are called marmots, the answer to the saw “how much wood would a marmot make?” Zero. They do not eat wooded vegetation, much less throw it away; They basically eat herbs, flowers and other green plants.
Marmots are similar to squirrels and spend most of their time above and below ground, they are truly intelligent climbers – don’t be surprised to see one in a tree.
They weigh between five and 1 five pounds, measure between 16 and 27 inches from nose to tail, have brown fur and sharp incisor teeth to cut off food.
In a marvel of evolution, groundhog incisors prevent the development of hibernation, Drake said.
Groundhogs are local to Wisconsin and are discovered in much of North America in grasslands, mixed forests, agricultural landscapes and even urban areas.
They are components of a local Wisconsin series, adding white-tailed deer, wild turkey, raccoon, coyote, Canadian geese, gray squirrel and cottontail rabbit, which has discovered a way to survive, if not thrive, in and around humans. developed habitat.
Groundhogs have strong forearms and shoulders to dig, making them complicated on cattle farms, as their burrows can damage cows and horses, and also irritates owners when groundhogs dig along the foundations of buildings.
“Groundhogs are a component of the herbal environment and, as with many species, their behavior and behavior can be a credit and a nuisance,” Drake said.
Groundhogs must have an inclination to live close to humans.
Scott Pitta of Wisconsin Dells said groundhogs liked to tan their addiction in disuse.
George Meyer of Madison grew up on a dairy farm in New Holstein where groundhogs were buried under the corn crib. The grain, of course, was destined for cattle, so Meyer’s father caught and sacrificed groundhogs that attacked the garage shed.
Animals don’t get lost. The circle of relatives skinned and ate the groundhogs.
“They were smart-sized animals and they had a very smart diet,” Meyer said. “My mom boiled them or put them in a stew. It’s very tasty.
Tim Lawhern of Madison said he ate groundhogs when it developed in Tennessee. “The young are tender, but the older ones had to be cooked under pressure,” Lawhern said.
For many years, groundhogs can be killed for causing damage, but they can be hunted or legally caught on Wisconsin public lands. That was replaced in 2013.
Groundhogs can now be processed with a minor hunting license, however, very few other people target the species.
According to the knowledge of the annual survey of hunters of the Department of Natural Resources, in 2019-20, about three hundred hunters and trappers caught about 5,600 marmots in Wisconsin. Small hunters looking to collect local and farmyard protein can find an abundant source. in marmots.
Many more animals die each year on the roads when they are hit by cars than hunters.
Overall, the species is in very good condition, Drake said.
“These are intelligent survivors,” Drake said. ” They regularly don’t venture away from their burrows, so they sometimes avoid predators. And they are well adapted to the evolved landscape. They’ve been here a long time. “
Groundhogs emerge from their dens in Wisconsin in March or April; for them, it’s the end of hibernation and the beginning of the breeding season.
This year, instead of a prediction made through a type founded in the shadows or its absence on February 2, consider this as the sign of spring: the first of a groundhog in the middle of mud and green grass.
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