The groundhog, characteristics, where it lives, what it eats, reproduction

The groundhog is known by many names. The term groundhog is not related to wood, it is simply believed to be a modern interpretation of the native American word for animal. Those ground squirrels are not in the squirrel family, they are in quite a family of rodents known as geomyidae, which includes the beaver. What Do Groundhogs Eat read below:

Features

There are around 35 species of ground squirrels, all found in central and North America. Gophers are noticeably smaller than woodchucks at only about 2 to 3 pounds less.

Unlike groundhogs, which spend much of their time on land eating the leaves and fruits of plants, squirrels rarely emerge from their burrows. They feed on the underground parts of plants, such as roots and tubers. Ground squirrels also have cheek pouches, like hamsters, that can store food empty and for later. In this way squirrels and marmots are different animals.

The ground squirrel name is also generally applied to other squirrels such as richardson’s ground squirrel. These light tan colored squirrels are smaller than marmots, and lighter in body in nature.

Richardson’s ground squirrel is common throughout much of the northern USA, living in burrows in open grasslands. They are similar in appearance and lifestyle to prairie dogs, which are in another genus.

They are called moles on a regular basis and most of the people who are familiar with this animal know exactly what they are referring to, with which from a certain point of view in common language, they are considered moles, but at a scientific level only members of the geomyidae family are moles. In this way squirrels and moles are different animals.

Ultimately, each and every squirrel-type animal that lives in burrows, has buck teeth, and eats seeds while standing on its hind legs, are commonly identified as marmots, but only one species of squirrel from land is truly a marmot.

Anatomy

Basically the marmot has an approximate measurement between 50 and 58 centimeters long, and between 13 and 16 centimeters of tail, it is very short compared to other rodents, its approximate weight is 8 kilograms.

The marmot has a thick head and body, its legs are short and ears small so that they adapt to the habitat in which they live. The coat is grayish brown on the back, and on the yellowish belly, at the end of the tail it is black.

The subspecies of the marmots are characterized by being smaller and their fur is much lighter in color.

Where does the marmot live?

Marmots love mountainous regions, such as the Rocky Mountains, the alps, the Himalayas, as long as there is grass around as well. They are never far from grassy terrain, meadows, fields, and forests. Groundhogs are found in many places around the world. North America, Asia and Europe. Groundhogs love to dig, they create different tunnels and burrows under the ground, each with a main entrance and an escape tunnel. Sometimes these burrows are used as by other animals such as foxes and skunks. Burrows are also built for hibernation and can be as deep as 7 meters.

What does a marmot eat?

Groundhogs primarily eat grass, plants, flowers, and seeds, this makes them herbivorous animals. However they sometimes rarely eat insects. Groundhogs eat a lot during the summer to gain weight and prepare for hibernation. Marmots hibernate throughout the winter and lose about half their body weight.