What's the difference between a marmot and a woodchuck?

[Theres-a]

[Skip Intro]

1. What about a woodchuck and a chipmonk?

[Theres-a]

4. Chipmonks are teeny,Marmots are more prairie dog sized.

[Fridays Child]

2. This is one of those trick questions, huh?

x(

[Theres-a]

3. My first attempt at a copycat.

Although I really would like to know,truth be told.

[bahrbearian]

5. Marmot's are also know as Rock Chucks.

They live in rock out croping and Tailings. A Wood Chuck would chuck wood

[Theres-a]

8. So,we can nickname our marmot " Rocky"

[Sufi Marmot]

6. I'll handle this...

Scientifically speaking, marmots totally kick ass, while woodchucks are not generally discussed in polite company... ;-)

Actually, they are of the same genus (Marmota), but different species (woodchucks are Marmota monax; there are a number of different marmot species)


-SM

[Theres-a]

7. Thanks!The picture looks like what lives in our yard.

We've always referred to him as the marmot,but wondered if we were correct.Mystery solved!

[alwynsw]

9. Woodchucks (we call 'em groundhogs around here)

get dead in a hurry in my neck of the woods. One of the little bastards can cost a farmer over $1,000.00 in soybeans in one season.

My neighbors are single family farmers. Several groundhogs can make the difference between a profitable year and bankruptcy for farmers whose main crop is soybeans.

I'd rather see dead groundhogs than see another family farm on the bankruptcy auction block for Con Agra or some other mega agribusiness to absorb at a bargain price.

[Theres-a]

14. Yeah,they're not as cute when they're destroying crops.

We have one that lives outside,he's in a different context,here.Like our 3 pet rats wouldn't be too welcome in NYC!

[El Fuego]

10. Marmots would not, could not chuck wood.

[Theres-a]

13. Nope,they chuck soybeans.

[FARAFIELD]

11. well marmots

take a much shorter time for a dalmatian to kill, when we lived in PA we were surronded by farms and our dalmatians would go wild after groundhogs (woodchucks) just a big bark fest till the poor beast was cornered.

[Theres-a]

12. the farmers must've appreciated that!

[welshTerrier2]

15. the difference is mostly political

marmots are basically centrists ... they can be found in either political party ... while they are unlikely to admit it, they really are not very political at all ... most of them go out and vote once every four years but are otherwise fairly uninvolved in the political process ... many of them belong to local civic groups ...

woodchucks, on the other hand, are clearly republicans ... they believe in gross excesses and feel it's their right to exploit the community at large to satisfy their own wants and desires ...

neither of these critters is likely to do much to further the progress many of us seek ... if you're looking for new role models, i'd stay away from both of them ...

[Theres-a]

17. Nice.

[flvegan]

16. Sounds stupid to say "how much wood can a marmot chuck, if a marmot

could chuck wood?"

[Theres-a]

18. Apparently,they chuck soybeans,see post 9

How many soybeans would a marmot chuck,if a marmot could chuck soybeans?:shrug:

[Deep13]

19. Marmots vs. woodchucks

Woodchucks, a.k.a. groundhogs, are big rodents that live in open areas near sea level. They are not quite as big as beavers and have squirrel tails that seem disproportionately small on their bodies. They dig holes and live underground and are widely considered pests by suburbanites who don't know any better. They are very skittish.

Marmots are similar in appearance to woodchucks, perhaps slightly larger, but live at high altitude in the western USA. They seem to have no fear of humans and often raid high-altitude camps of climbers for food while the people sleep. They sporadically produce loud, high-pitched whistle sounds, especially when threatened by coyotes or mountain lions.

[Theres-a]

20. We live in Connecticut

Next to a river.I wonder what that critter under the front step is.The previous posts had me confident that it's a marmot,but now i'm not so sure.

[Deep13]

22. Sounds like 'chuck.

We have woodchucks living under our back porch here in Ohio. He have also seen rabbits come out of there. I suppose it could be a muskrat. When I lived in MA in the '80s, we had one in the small pond behind our house. Looked like a small woodchuck with a narrow, flat tail. The flat part went vertical, not horizontal like a beaver and waved side-to-side. I never saw it out of the water, although it had to get there somehow. I was an isolated, stagnant pond.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. We have marmots up here, no woodchucks.

I think it has something to do with altitude maybe?

[Deep13]

23. I guess

I know the Rockies run through #49. Could also be the climate, I suppose. I have just never heard of one living below 6000 feet. Of course, the rules might be different down in the overcrowded 48.

[PhuLoi]

24. Wood throwing ability.