Groundhogs: The Truth Comes Out (2024)

Hey, all you groundhogs out there, rise and shine! It’s February 2—your big day! What? You’re still snoozing? What’s going on here?

You’ve probably heard the story: Groundhogs are supposed to come out of their burrows on Groundhog Day and look for their shadows. If they see them, it means there will be six more weeks of winter. No shadows means spring is near.

But guess what—most groundhogs are fast asleep on February 2. So what aboutPunxsutawney Phil, that furry guy you may see on TV that day? Phil is really a tame groundhog from a zoo. Wild groundhogs may not wake up for a few more weeks. And when they do leave their burrows, they’re not looking for shadows. They’re looking for mates and food.

Want to find out what groundhogs arereally up to all year long? Then keep reading!

WINTER

BEATING THE COLD
Groundhogs (or woodchucks,as lots of people call them)often live where winters can becold and snowy. The plantsthat groundhogs need forfood are dead or coveredup. So groundhogs hibernateunderground in a burrow. Theburrow also provides greatprotection from enemies.

HIBERNATION STATION
As winter nears, a groundhoggets its burrow ready forhibernation. It gathers lots ofdried plants and makes a thick,soft nest. Then the groundhogcurls up for a very long, verydeep winter’s sleep.

NEARLY DEAD
When a groundhog hibernates,its body temperature drops aslow as 37° F (3° C)—just abovefreezing. Its heart beats onlyfour or five times a minute, andit breathes only once every fourminutes. With its body sloweddown, the groundhog can gowithout food or water for almostfive months. (More on that later.)

A FREE MOTEL
While a groundhog is havinga long winter snooze, othercreatures may sneak into itsburrow to find shelter from thecold or to hide from enemies.Mice, chipmunks, squirrels,opossums, skunks, raccoons,toads, lizards, spiders, andother creatures all spend sometime—or even all winter—in agroundhog’s burrow.

SUMMER

FAMILY LIFE
Male groundhogs are the firstto come out of their dens inthe spring. They search nearbyburrows for females but usuallymeet other males. Then theymay have a biting fight! Femaleswake up about three weeks afterthe males do. Pairs mate, and amonth later teeny, hairless pupsare born.

Growing groundhog pups liketo tussle and play games. Momsometimes joins the fun.But she also has to keeplooking out for foxes and otherpredators. If she sees one, shewhistles a shrill alarm call. Thattells the pups, “Dive into theburrow, NOW!”

PIG OUT
Even during the summer, agroundhog spends most ofits time inside its burrow. Butwhen it’s outside, it eats like alittle pig. It scarfs down at leasta pound of greens a day. Bysummer’s end, the groundhoghas doubled its weight.

PIG IN A BLANKET
Pigging out is a matter of life ordeath for a groundhog. Like acar that burns gasoline to keepgoing, a groundhog’s bodyburns fat to stay alive whilehibernating. The fat also actsas a blanket that keeps in theanimal’s body heat. A skinnygroundhog wouldn’t survive along winter.

NAME GAME
You can probably guess howsuch a fat creature came to becalled a groundhog. But groundhogsaren’t little pigs—they’rerodents, like mice, rats, beavers,and squirrels. Their closestrodent cousins are marmots,which are found in the westernU.S., in Europe, and in Asia.

American Indians calledgroundhogs a name thatsounded like “wuchak,” whichmeans “digger.” Europeansettlers thought they were saying“woodchuck.”

WOODCHUCKCHUCKING
So how much wood woulda woodchuck chuck, if awoodchuck could chuck wood?No one knows. But we do knowthat a groundhog chucks soil,and plenty of it. A full-growngroundhog can dig a 12-footburrow in only a fewhours. When building a full-sizeburrow, a groundhog may clearout 700 pounds of soil!

SO, WHAT ABOUT GROUNDHOG DAY?
It all started in Europe, hundreds of years ago.February 2 was a holiday called Candlemas,when people prayed for mild weather for therest of the winter. The people believed that,if a hibernating badger woke up and saw itsshadow on Candlemas, there would be sixmore weeks of bad weather.

European settlers didn’t find any badgerswhen they first settled in America, sogroundhogs became the new winterweather forecasters.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Download a pdf of “Groundhogs: The Truth Comes Out.”