Species of rodent
"Whistle Pig" redirects here. For the whiskey distillery, see WhistlePig.The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as the woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.[2] A lowland creature of North America, it is found through much of the Eastern United States, across Canada and into Alaska.[3] It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.[4]
The groundhog plays an important role maintaining healthy soil in woodlands and plains; as such, the species is considered a crucial habitat engineer.[5][6][7] The groundhog is an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks and capable of understanding social behavior, forming kinship with its young, understanding and communicating threats through whistling, and working cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing.[8][9]
Common names for the groundhog include chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistl...