The prominence of the groundhog as a popular figure in the country lore of the Eastern States is shown by his having been given a place with the Saints on the calendar, February 2 being widely known as “Groundhog Day.” It is claimed that on this date the groundhog wakes from his long winter sleep and appears at the mouth of his burrow to look about and survey the weather. If the sun shines so that he can see his shadow, bad weather is indicated and he retires to resume his sleep for another six weeks. Otherwise, the winter is broken and mild weather is predicted. Even on the outskirts of Washington some of the countrymen still appraise the character of the coming spring by the weather on “Groundhog Day.”
THE HOARY MARMOT, OR WHISTLER (Marmota caligata and its relatives)
(For illustration, [see page 535])
The whistler is the largest and handsomest of the American marmots. It is similar in proportions to the common woodchuck, but averages nearly twice its weight. Its fur, far thicker and of a better quality, might have a value in the fur trade if enough of the skins were available. As it is, the skins are used only for robes and sometimes for clothing by the Indians.
The distribution of this characteristic animal of the northern Rocky Mountains and outlying ranges extends from the Endicott Mountains, fronting the Arctic coast of Alaska, and the peninsula of Alaska, southeasterly to the Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho, Mount Rainier, the Olympics of Washington, and Vancouver Island. In the North its range extends from above timber-line down over hare slopes and through glacial valleys to the sea-level along the southern coast of Alaska. To the southward it is limited wholly to the higher elevations, usually above timber-line.
Owing to variations in climatic conditions and to isolation in different parts of its range, several geographic races of the whistler have been developed. In the mountains to the southward of its range other marmots occur as far as New Mexico and California.
When the French-Canadian voyageurs on their fur-trading expeditions first visited the Rocky Mountains they encountered the hoary marmots and applied to them the name “siffleur,” or whistler, which they had already given the common woodchuck of eastern Canada. The shrill note of the hoary marmot, under favorable circumstances, may be heard more than a mile and justifies the restriction of the name whistler to it.
The whistler lives in such remote and unfrequented districts that little is known of its life history. It is diurnal in habits and loves the free open spaces of the high mountain ridges. There its loud, oft-repeated call note, striking colors, together with its habit of running about on the snowbanks, render it unusually conspicuous.
High in the mountains it usually inhabits rock slides, the tumbled rock masses of glacial moraines, or rocky points, but sometimes takes up its abode on open earth slopes or in the bottoms of little glacial valleys. Ordinarily the dens are hidden in the rock slides and broken-down ledges, or burrows are dug under the shelter of large boulders and even in open ground away from any rocky shelter.
During the sunny days of summer the whistler regularly frequents the top of some conspicuous boulder or projecting rocky point, from which it commands a sweeping view of all its surroundings. Its sight and hearing are extraordinarily keen, and when perched on its lookout it is difficult to stalk. When one has its burrow located in an open place it often sits upright on its haunches to look watchfully about, and at the first alarm disappears into its den. This watchfulness is necessary, for even in the remote alpine highlands it occupies, the whistler is beset by enemies. The most formidable of these are the great brown and grizzly bears of the North, which dig it from its burrow. In addition prowling wolves, Canada lynxes, wolverines, and eagles take occasional toll from its numbers.