Yes it is a ground hog. It is also a woodchuck.This picture was taken a few years ago on Rib Mountain (hill). It is not a gopher; which is actually a general term for small rodents. In the movie Caddyshack Bill Murray tries to get rid of a pesky gopher (and not a woodchuck/ground hog; my bad).
I was on top of the lookout tower one day and a family from (I think it was) Iowa, started climbing the tower and when the kids got up to the top they were in awe of the panoramic view. To us flat landers it is a mountain, but if you have been to the Rockies out west, or the Alps in Europe it looks more like a hill I suppose. It is a mountain to me; I have walked up the ski slope side of the hill and it will wear you out.
This woodchuck or groundhog is also called a land beaver, and a whistle pig, because of the whistling sound it makes if it senses danger. It is in fact a rather large rodent. Woodruff is hibernating right now, he sleeps the winter away in a cozy little den below the frost level underground. Woodruff will likely hibernate from October until March or April. Woodchucks can be found as far north as Alaska and into the southeastern U.S. in states like Alabama. With the understanding that in cold weather climates that a groundhog would be hibernating on February 2nd, I am not sure how the idea of Ground Hogs Day got started; here is Phil on Groundhogs Day of 2011; it is very funny to see it in action.
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| Caddyshack (Bill must love groundhogs and gophers) C'mon this looks like a woodchuck...right??? I hate when I am wrong. |
So there you have it, two nods to the Ground Hog for February.
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