Standing Guard, photo by James Marvin Phelps

Today (February 2nd) is Groundhog Day, the day halfway between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. The most famous groundhog in the world, Punxsutawney Phil, didn’t see his shadow this morning. Apparently, Michigan has its own official woodchuck weather forecaster, Woody. She lives at the Howell Nature Center and also didn’t  see her shadow. If you put your trust in celebrity rodents, that means we’re in for an early spring.

Michigan has native groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, whistle-pigs, or land-beavers. The University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web entry for Marmota monax (woodchuck) explains in part that:

Woodchucks are stocky in appearance and often stand up on their hind legs, making them look tall. Their pelage varies greatly in color but ranges from gray to cinnamon to dark brown. Their body is covered with white-tipped guard hairs giving them a grizzled appearance. Their paws vary in color from a typical black to dark brown in most subspecies. However, one subspecies has paws that appear pink. Their short bushy tail is often black to dark brown and is 20 to 25% their total body length. They weigh from 2 to 6 kg, range from 415 to 675 mm in total length, and have tails that range from 100 to 160 mm in length. Although males and females are the same color, males are larger than females. Woodchucks have white teeth, which is uncharacteristic of rodents, and a dental formula of 1/1, 0/0, 2/1, 3/3, for a total of 22 teeth. They have rounded ears that can cover the external auditory canal which prevents dirt from entering the ear canal while burrowing.

…Woodchucks are diurnal, solitary animals … Woodchucks are burrowing mammals and generally construct summer and winter dens. These dens generally have several entrances (including an escape hole) and many chambers and tunnels. Woodchucks usually feed twice daily during the summer, with each feeding session lasting no more than 2 hours. They are often found sunning themselves in the middle of the day during summer.

…Abandoned woodchuck dens are used by a number of different species, including rabbits, skunks, raccoons, opossums, foxes, weasels, ground squirrels, river otters, chipmunks, meadow voles, short-tailed shrews, house mice, pine voles, white-footed mice, lizards, snakes, and arthropods.

You can read more and see photos at ADW and also at Wikipedia.

James took this photo at the Lake Erie Metro Park in August of 2009. See it bigger and see more in his Michigan Groundhog slideshow.

More Michigan animals on Michigan in Pictures.