Ground Hogs Invade Indiana Farms.
Farmers in the western part of Delaware County, Ind., are up in arms against the ground hog. Hundreds of the pests overrun the farms in that part of the country.
Many farms are literally honeycombed with ground-hog holes. It is said that on one farm not far from Daleville there are as many as five hundred ground-hog dens. The sport of shooting the animals has replaced all others, and hunters who fare afield after these weather prophets seldom go unrewarded.
Apparently the situation has proved to be of keen interest to the squirrels, which are seldom hunted now in that vicinity, the hunters preferring the larger and juicier game, and at the same time conferring a benefit on the farmers by reducing the number of pests which destroy so much corn. According to riflemen and others the squirrels, which are numerous in that part of the country have become positively tame because they have not been hunted. But the ground hogs have become wary and keep sentinels posted, which, by their whistling, warn their comrades of the hunter’s approach.
The ground hog’s call is a clear, distinct whistle, not greatly unlike the singing of a canary bird, only much louder and even sweeter in tone. It is interesting to observe a full-grown ground hog, weighing several pounds, emitting a melodious warble that might well belong to a feathered songster.
Doctor Camdon C. McKinney of Daleville, is perhaps, eastern Indiana’s greatest “ground-hog expert” and what he does not know about these little animals and their ways of living is not worth knowing. Incidentally Doctor McKinney is a crack rifle shot and not only does fried or roasted ground hog grace his family table as often as he may desire, but he supplies a few friends in Muncie and elsewhere with this delicacy on occasion.
“I like to observe the ground hog in his native habitat almost as well as I like to eat his succulent flesh,” said Doctor McKinney. “The farmer’s chief objection to him and the reason that he welcomes hunters who will destroy the ground hog is because the animals insist on destroying corn. As soon as the corn fills out and reaches the roasting-ear stage the ground hogs get busy and devour the ears, either on the spot where they find them or they drag the corn to their dens and eat it there at their leisure, the whole family of the particular den joining in the feast much as the human family does at the same season of year.
“Family by family these little animals will fill their dens to overflowing with the products of the farmer’s toil, and one family will even assist a neighbor who is a little short of help in the ground-hog harvest time. Thus it may be seen that a large colony of ground hogs may cause a great loss in a corn community.]
“Human beings might well learn from the ground hog the Biblical lesson: ‘It is good for brethren to dwell together in amity.’ Ground hogs do not fight among themselves, but they stand up for each other through thick and thin. A personal incident will illustrate this. The[Pg 58] other day while hunting I noticed one of the little animals stick his head cautiously out of his hole. When he finally ventured entirely out, I shot him, but I never saw him afterward. No sooner did he fall than his family rushed out and dragged him back into the den.
“The only way a hunter can get close enough to one of these animals to make a good shot is to hide himself not far from a hole and wait for the ground hog to appear. He first will peer out cautiously, only the end of his snout and his twinkling eyes being visible. Then withdrawing, possibly to report to the others of the family that the coast is clear, he displays a little more of his body at the mouth of the den, and then again runs back. He does this several times, running back each time, and on each reappearance displaying a little more of his body.