Re: The Goundhog

Feb 18, 2015

Your rant in last week's News (Editorial, The Groundhog) was inexcusable. To begin, groundhogs are clearly related to the ground (earth) but have no relationship to hogs. Properly called woodchucks, they are really marmots. Ours is Marmota monax rufescens. Evolutionarily advanced members of the squirrel family who have virtually given up climbing in trees, they are cousins of the politically advanced prairie dogs, well known for their sophisticated town planning and administration.

And yes, our marmots do come out in February and March, especially the males. I have often followed them for kilometers across the drifts. The males somehow know where to dig down through half a metre of snow to the exact spot where a burrow may contain a female.

The tradition of Groundhog Day was imported by German settlers to Pennsylvania. The Day has been celebrated since 1887. Originally the legend was applied to the hedgehog and possibly to the European badger. Lacking both these animals in Pennsylvania, the legend was reapplied to the groundhog.

Don't label the marmots with the results of the greed that drives those few towns in Ontario, Nova Scotia and Pennsylvania who try to make a buck on the backs of the marmots. Those groups are irreverent violators of a grand old tradition. Perhaps we need a good rant on the greedy tendencies of business associations who are virtually ignorant of the sacred traditions of the marmot.

Gray Merriam, Marmatologist (ret'd)

Honorary Member of the Groundhog Club