Unlike other mammals, groundhogs have dramatic annual biological rhythms. For researchers, groundhogs, also called woodchucks, offer a perfect animal model for studying these cycles. These creatures, which live underground, may hold clues to understanding brain activity, cancer, and blood cell function. If you notice groundhogs busy eating in the fall, you can take action to keep them out of your yard.
While we’d like to prevent the creatures from living in our yards, we must take the best care of them. Groundhogs are much better garden pests than gophers. They rest during the fall, which is when most humans notice them. However, when you notice them in our yard, you should be wary of them because they often leave behind evidence of their presence. Besides eating our crops, groundhogs also leave behind large holes, which can damage foundations.
Groundhogs eat a variety of plants, including grasses and wildflowers. During the day, they don’t venture more than 50 to 150 feet away from their den. They also eat various crops, including acorns and hickory. Their diets may vary in the fall, so it’s important to monitor the groundhog population in your yard to prevent damage.
Groundhogs are diurnal, meaning they spend most of their time outside during the day. They emerge at dusk and return to their dens at night. Their activity is high during the day, but decreases during the winter as they conserve energy and complete minimal tasks. If you catch them in the act of digging a burrow, you’ll know they’re likely to move through the night.
If you’ve noticed groundhogs out in the fall, you might have been curious about their daily lives. When they come out of hibernation, male groundhogs start their annual mate search in late February. Male groundhogs travel long distances in search of female burrows. They then inspect them for other male groundhogs and their territories to mate with. After mating season begins, female groundhogs emerge from their burrows to raise their young.
As a true hibernator, groundhogs spend the summer months fattening up, preparing to hibernate in their burrows for the winter. During this time, their heart rate drops to an extremely low rate, causing them to go into a deep state of torpor. Their body temperature plummets from 99 degrees Fahrenheit to three degrees C. A 14 degree drop will cause them to lose consciousness, and a twenty-four-degree fall will kill them.
While their winter hibernation period may end before Thanksgiving, groundhogs are busy putting on fat before the cold weather starts to set in. They’re active during the day, especially in the early morning and early evening. These large, short-legged mammals appear to waddle when they’re looking for food, and this can cause people to worry that they may be rabid. Fortunately, rabies is rare in groundhogs.
What time of year do groundhogs come out?
Groundhog Behavior Activity: Groundhogs are diurnal (active during the day) from spring to fall. Most activity occurs during the early morning and early evening hours, at which groundhogs emerge from their burrows to gather food.
What do groundhogs eat in the fall?
Nuts- Shagbark, hickory, acorns (nut of oaks and contains seeds). In fall, groundhogs also eat roots, leaves, barks, and twigs of trees as plants become scarce though they prefer plants and vegetables.
What do groundhogs eat in the winter?
A groundhog’s diet can include fruit, plants, tree bark and grasses. They are known for damaging crops and gardens and many consider them pests. Groundhogs don’t eat during hibernation. They use fat that they built up over the summer and winter month.F
What will keep groundhogs away?
Ammonia: A rag soaked with ammonia placed near the entrance of a groundhog’s hole acts as a giant “Keep Away” sign. Other strong scents groundhogs don’t like include talcum powder and garlic.
What do groundhogs do in summer and fall?
Groundhogs are solitary creatures, and they spend their summers and falls stuffing themselves and taking naps in the sun. They can eat about a pound of food per sitting. In the winter, they hibernate.F
What do groundhogs do in the fall?
They spend the fall months (prior to hibernation) feeding on protein-heavy, rich foods to build fat reserves. Groundhogs are herbivores and eat grasses, other plants, berries, grains, and nuts; however, they occasionally eat other foods such as insects (e.g., grasshoppers) or other small animals.
What do groundhogs do at night?
While groundhogs have good eyesight, they do not tend to leave the burrow at night. Although some people think of them as nocturnal, groundhogs are diurnal. This means they are most active during the daylight hours. Specifically, they tend to go out scavenging for food during the early morning and the late afternoon.
What month do groundhogs hibernate?
Throughout the winter, they are inactive, their heart rates slow and their body temperatures drop to approximately 39-40 degrees Fahrenheit. So, exactly when do groundhogs hibernate? This is a several-month process extending from late October to early February, depending on their geographic location.
Do groundhogs come out in the cold?
Groundhogs are typically active until the first real frost of winter, often October or November. Then they crawl down into their burrows and begin to hibernate. This hibernation lasts until the weather starts to warm up, usually around February or March.
Where do groundhogs sleep in the summer?
They have a burrow for hibernating
and then they have another section of the burrow that’s more like their summer home where they can come out more easily.” Their burrows even have separate rooms for defecation—otherwise known as bathrooms.J
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Do groundhogs come out in October?
Groundhogs hibernate during the winter starting in about October and then come out pretty early in February. Once they stop hibernating, they eat to regain strength and then move on to breeding season.
What temperature do groundhogs come out?
Groundhogs are considered true hibernators
according to National Geographic, meaning their body temperature drops below 20 degrees Celsius, or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. During hibernation, the groundhog’s body temperature drops from 99 F to as low as 37 F, according to the National Wildlife Federation.J
What snacks do groundhogs like?
Trees (specifically bark and twigs) like black cherry and dogwood. Vegetation like carrots, celery, corn, peas, and beans. Fruits like berries, cherries and apples. Insects like June bugs, snails and grasshoppers.
