In this episode, we talk all about our local groundhogs – their life cycle, the burrows they dig, their hibernation and their raising of young.
Groundhogs play an important role in our environment. Their abandoned burrows serve as homes for other animals like raccoons, skunks, foxes and opossums; and their digging helps loosen up soils so water can be better absorbed into the earth.
They also can help with weeding the garden as shown in this picture where our young groundhog is shown eating the dreaded Bindweed – good groundhog!
Human conflicts with groundhogs often result from groundhogs getting into vegetable gardens. To help with that and other issues, here is a Groundhog Solutions tip sheet from the Fund for Animals that has a lot of great ideas.