We’ve all heard the tongue-twister. And if you didn’t know all the delightful monikers that grace our largest rodent, you do know. So where do all these names come from? And why do we use them? Just how much wood COULD a woodchuck chuck anyway?

The answer is basically zero. Even though they are sometimes called the ‘Land Beaver’, Woodchucks don’t eat wood unless they can’t find anything green. This particular nickname likely comes from the Algonquin name for these chunky critters “Wuchak”, which roughly translates to ‘the digger’. European colonizers dulled this sobriquet down to something that was more readily understood in their own language.

‘Groundhog’ is a little more straight forward. All members of their genus are burrowing creatures, and Marmota monax is no exception. They’re also the largest of the ground squirrels in New York City, and one of its larger land mammals. But that doesn’t mean you won’t see one climbing from time to time!

So what about “Whistle Pig”? That comes from their alarm call. When there are predators about, woodchucks will sit back on their haunches for a better view, then send out a loud, high-pitched bark to alert their fellow critters. Groundhogs are generally solitary, so the odds of hearing this call in NYC are low… but never zero.