Stewart Lawrence, age 11, of Dubuque, Iowa, for his question:
DO WOODCHUCKS REALLY EAT WOOD?
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
That's one of the world's favorite tongue twisters. In it the writer wonders what might happen if a woodchuck had the ability to toss out bits of wood. The animal, however, can't toss pieces of wood, nor does he include wood in his diet.
A woodchuck belongs to the squirrel family and is also called the ground hog. He is actually a type of marmot.
On Feb. 2 each year, the woodchuck becomes a somewhat famous creature when many people throughout the world celebrate Ground Hog Day. According to an old superstition, you can predict when spring will come by watching a woodchuck that day.
If the animal comes out of his underground home when the sun is shining, he will become frightened from seeing his own shadow and will return to his nest. This is supposed to mean winter will last for another six weeks.
If it is an overcast day without sunshine on Feb. 2, the woodchuck will not see his shadow and we will enjoy an early spring that year.
A woodchuck builds complex burrows that contain a number of different compartments. He comes out to eat soft plants such as alfalfa and clover. Definitely no wood is included on his menu.
The woodchuck has a reputation as a pest because many times he will find lots of his favorite greens among farm crops.
When a woodchuck goes looking for food, he first sits up on his haunches at the entrance to his burrow, watching and listening for signs of danger. This habit makes the woodchuck an easy target for hunters.
The woodchuck lives in Canada and in the eastern and Midwestern parts of the United States. He grows to be about 2 feet long, including his bushy tail, and has a flat, broad head.
The common ground hog of North America has coarse fur of gray on the upper parts of its body and yellow orange fur on the under parts.
Woodchucks are animals that hibernate or sleep through the winter. They eat large amounts of food each fall to store as fat and carry them through the long sleep.
In the spring, the female woodchuck usually gives birth to four or five babies.
Marmots are the largest members of the squirrel family and can be found in Europe, western North America and in much of Asia. They are rodents, as are beavers, chipmunks and mice. Their relative, the woodchuck, is a kind of marmot that lives in open areas. Marmots live in colonies on mountain slopes.