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Today we celebrate our largest Squirrel!
 Standing proud! | Yes, Groundhogs are giant ground squirrels known as Marmots. While they look cute, they are often the bane of many home gardeners since they tend to enjoy many of the same vegetables we grow and they often get themselves in trouble when setting up house beneath human structures. It's a shame they get a bad rap, since they are ecosystem engineers, grazing and browsing more than a pound of vegetation each day and creating underground borrows which act as refuges and shelters for many other species of wildlife including amphibians, reptiles, and other small mammals. |
These burrows can be lifelines for such wildlife under certain circumstances, such as during wild fires, as we've recently seen in California.
Studies have also shown that soils are more fertile around ground-squirrel burrows, thanks to the increase nutrients provided by the squirrels' waste. Being rodents, they also fall prey to animals such as Hawks, Coyotes, Foxes, and more - a decently sized meal compared to a mouse or grey squirrel.
Their populations seems to be increasing on Long Island as many more people are spotting them, including within Nassau County.
Long Island luckily has not one, but two famous meteorological Marmots assisting us with the forecast this morning!
Just what will Malverne Mel and Holtsville Hal have to say? Will they see their shadows?
Will we have six more weeks of winter?❄️ Or is spring on its way?🌱 Only time will tell!
"How much wood would a Woodchuck chuck
if a Woodchuck could chuck wood?"
 Talk about nosey neighbors! | 1) There are 14 species of Marmots in the world, all within the Northern Hemisphere 2) Groundhogs are also known as Woodchucks and Whistle Pigs 3) The word "Woodchuck" is borrowed from the Algonquian "wejack" and Cree "wuchak" 4) Groundhogs are one of the few animals that enter true hibernation 5) Groundhogs prefer grassy meadows adjacent to woodlands 6) Of the six species of Marmot in North America, only the Groundhog can be found in the East |
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