David Schwartz., age 9, of Nassau, N.Y., for his question:

Where are woodchucks found?

The chubby woodchuck is a native of North America. The fat fellow is found throughout most of Canada and Eastern United States. He is related to the many ground squirrels that make their homes in burrows. His cousins are the prairie dogs that live in large underground cities on the western prairies and the big marmots that live in the western mountains.

Our Mr. Woodchuck is called the ground hog. He is a quiet fellow who enjoys peaceful life on the slopes and meadows of the wild. He spends his days feeding on grassy shoots and sunbathing between meals. At night he goes down one of the tunnels of his burrow to sleep in his cozy bedroom. Come fall, he goes below and sleeps until the warm spring coaxes the grasses to grow again.