...and you fellas thought there'd be a video...sorry. Okay, what do you guys call those large destructive furry rodents that infest our fields and ruin our foundations? I've heard them called woodchucks, groundhogs, whistle pigs (an old favorite), long range targets...
Around here, they are called groundhogs or whistle pig. Don't hear the term woodchuck very often. but according to google, it is another name for a groundhog. http://www.google.com/search?q=wood...sAarL0QG65JizCw&ved=0CE0QsAQ&biw=1024&bih=605 As for the long range target, I've shot dozens at short range. As far as the name Target, I'd class them with stray cats, Target #1, Target #2, Target #3. (don't mean to offend) My wife & I took a trip out West a couple years ago and seen hundreds of Prairie Dogs. Prairie Dogs are much, much smaller than groundhogs. We were really surprised at just how small they were by comparison.
i'm in East Texas, about 60 miles south of Tyler. and we don't have any of them! just squirrels and rabbits!
I live in a suburban neighborhood in Baltimore County, Maryland and the daggone things are adapting like the coyotes. When I was a young man, you only saw them in the country, now you can find them just about anywhere including the urban areas. Thanks for the pictures Greyhawk.
I'm not to far from you in Texas miles. I'm in San Marcos, bout 45 minutes south of Austin. We've always had coyotes but they are getting more into urban areas than ever before.
Whistlepigs....squirrels, chipmunks, seagulls, crows, racoons... pests. Targets is what we call 'em in Pennsylvania !
where I come from they are known as woodchucks,what the h--l is a whistlepig??? That's a new one on me
I'm not sure where it came from. Maybe the fact that if you whistle real loud at them, they are known to stand up and give you a better shot.
That's the explanation I heard years ago from my uncle who had a real passion for shooting the things. He used a custom pre-'64 Model 70 in 22-250 with an old Unertl scope. No 'chuck was safe when he got that gun out.
I don't know, but, I have heard that the groundhog uses a whistle as a signal of danger?? Maybe to their young?? They don't live in colonies like prairie dogs but multiple holes can be found in suitable areas i.e along a railroad bed. Mostly a solitary den where the young are cast out when they are old enough. I hunted them a lot back in the early '70s with everything from a 22 lr. pistol to 7.7 Japanese Mauser. Mostly with a 22 mag. or a 5mm. rem. mag. I would harvest 15 or more each spring before the grass and weeds got too high.
What amazes me about the animal is the size of the rocks they can push up out of the ground when constructing their dens. My uncle was constantly having to repair equipment that was damaged after riding over one of their unseen holes.
Yeah we call them groundhogs here in the midwest. They can adapt to urban life just as well as coyotes. We have so many coyotes around here now you don't see many groundhogs.
