. Animal snapshots and how made . throughout theMiddle and Eastern States, for he is asmuch a part of the farm as is the brook or the sugar-bush. In form he is far from graceful, especially in thalatter part of the summer when his body becomesvery fat and pouchy. The color of his fur varies froma reddish brown to a grizzled gray or, occasionally,black; while his teeth, like those of the squirrel andprairie-dog, are strong and well adapted for cutting. The woodchuck is of the earth earfhy, and there isa peculiar odor about the place where he dwells, forhe lives not in the lap, but in the bosom,
. Animal snapshots and how made . throughout theMiddle and Eastern States, for he is asmuch a part of the farm as is the brook or the sugar-bush. In form he is far from graceful, especially in thalatter part of the summer when his body becomesvery fat and pouchy. The color of his fur varies froma reddish brown to a grizzled gray or, occasionally,black; while his teeth, like those of the squirrel andprairie-dog, are strong and well adapted for cutting. The woodchuck is of the earth earfhy, and there isa peculiar odor about the place where he dwells, forhe lives not in the lap, but in the bosom, of MotherEarth,—^however his summer home may be in a wallor stone-heap. The woodchuck of the present dayis rather incUned to desert the old home in the woods,where he fed upon tender bark and roots of variouskinds, and become a dweller in the field near theclover-patch and garden. Here he is so destructive [6 The Woodchuck that he has become a special object of persecution bythe farmers, and from early spring until fall a con-. The Summer Home of the Woodchttck tinual warfare is waged against him; some are trapped,many are shot, and not a few are destroyed by thefarm dogs. The Woodchuck 17 The trap is set at the entrance of the burrow, beingmade fast to a stake which is driven into the are more easily trapped in May orJune than later in the season, for during the formermonths they are much oftener out in the open. Theold ones frequently become very shy, especially thoseliving in meadows remote from the house, and havingtheir burrows in the edge of the woods. Sometimesone of these woodchucks will spring a trap day afterday without being caught, or even dig around thetrap, much to the disgust of the farmer boy, who isusually paid a bounty of ten cents for each chuckcaught. After the grass has been mown the woodchucksbecome much wilder, and it is at this time that the village sportsmen betake themselves into thecountry on leisure afternoons to indulge in the p
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectani, booksubjectbirds
