woodchuck1

Woodchucks

The woodchuck is 17 to 24 inches long (including the tail) and weighs up to 14 pounds.

It also is called “groundhog” which obviously comes from the animal’s squat appearance, waddling gait, and habit of living in the ground.

The woodchuck lives in brushy or weedy areas,
forest edges, fencerows, railroad embankments, and dams. 

It is an herbivore that eats clovers, grasses, bulbs, leaves, fruits, and bark. When disturbed, it will strike its incisors against one another. It usually is active during the day. The woodchuck may dig tunnels up to five feet long in one day and is known to swim and climb trees. It spends most of each day in its burrow, coming above ground for no more than two hours each day. The woodchuck is a true hibernator.

woodchuck

Iowa DNR

https://www.iowadnr.gov/portals/idnr/uploads/education/Classroom%20Resources/Factsheets/Mammals/wdchuck.pdf