Chain Pickerel

I am continuing the fish theme this month with the thought of acquainting or reacquainting Victory Lakes community members (in preparation for the fishing season) with the fish that inhabit our lakes.
After all, a fisherman definitely wants to be able to identify what he/she has hooked.
And, if you are not a fisherperson, you just might like being able to shock a veteran fisherman with a comment like “Hey, that’s a good sized Chain Pickerel you just caught!”

Chain Pickerel are an exciting and popular catch in the U.S. as they are aggressive fighters once hooked.
Early spring and late fall are usually the beginning and end of fishing season. But these are the best times for catching a large pickerel.
During the summer pickerel hide in the weeds but during the colder fishing months the weeds are dormant. In early spring or late fall, a fisherperson will get a jump up on the fish if he/she knows where pickerel like to hang out when the temperature is cool.
Concentrating on fallen timber may yield good fishing results. Look for overhanging brush and trees as these are other favorite hiding spots.
Most attractive are lily pads which are always present but may be yellowed and thinned out at this time. If you know where the lily pads are usually present in our lakes, you have a good chance at baiting a pickerel.

Chain Pickerel are considered the runts of the pike family. On average it takes 5 years for a pickerel to reach 2 pounds.
They rarely attain more than 4 pounds. But the heaviest pickerel on record was caught in1961 in Georgia with a weight of 9 pounds 6 ounces.
New Jersey holds the former record of 9 pounds 3 ounces. Length varies and I will quote one fisherman’s interesting categories of pickerel lengths: small-14 in. and under, average-15 to19 in., pretty good-20 to 25in., big-26 to 30 in., monster-31+in.

Also known as jackass and grass pike, Chain Pickerel have a greenish to bronze background coloration fading to yellow on the underside.
They are distinguished from other pike by black or dark green chain like markings on their sides and back.
Juvenile chain pickerel are steel blue in color and will not attain the markings until they are 6-8 in. long. Their bodies are long and slender with duck-bill shaped snouts and needle-like sharp teeth.
The entire cheek and gill cover are scaled and there are 8 pores on the underside of the jaw. There is a vertical dark streak extending downward below each eye.

Chain pickerel spawn in the swampy areas of lakes in early spring right after ice out. They do not build nests and there is not any parental care of the young.
Eggs are dropped usually sticking to underwater weeds. Most eggs do not survive to hatching. Hatching takes place 7 to 12 days later and the young attach themselves to vegetation by means of an adhesive gland on their snouts.
They begin to feed after about a week and may reach a length of 6 in. by summer’s end. Sexual maturity is usually attained at 5 to 6 years.
A pickerel can live as long as 10 years, at which time the fish reaches the “monster” status described above.

Chain pickerel are sometimes called “chained lightening” because of their method of acquiring food.
A fish will hide near or under vegetation waiting to ambush anything it can swallow. It is omnivorous and will eat insects, birds, frogs, mice, and snakes as well as other fish such as minnows, sunnies, and weaker pike.
Chain pickerel are sometimes used in fish management programs to reduce the overpopulation of some fish species such as sunnies.
They are a headache for trout enthusiasts as they will attack trout as large as themselves and have been responsible for reducing trout populations.
Hunting for food usually occurs in shallow water (10 ft. or less) in the morning and early evening, probably the best times to fish for Chain Pickerel if that is your intent.
And if you are up for ice fishing in the dead of winter, it is more than likely that a Chain Pickerel will be the fish you bring up through the ice hole. Check out articles on “Pike Fishing” at the NJDEP website; one article addresses fishing for pike in early spring and the second describes ice fishing.

Personal anecdote: About twenty years ago I was canoeing with a young nephew on Upper Victory. Tired of paddling, my young friend picked up the fishing rod he had brought along for the ride and dropped the hook (that had no bait) over the side as I continued our way home.
He suddenly shouted “I got one!” and proceeded to reel it in. I am thinking “probably an old shoe.”
But, of course, he lands a foot long pickerel (“no bait? What kind of monster is this?”) into the canoe with those needle teeth only inches from my bare toes!
Screaming inside my head as he anxiously tells me he doesn’t know how to unhook it, I somehow manage to cut the line and get the fish back into the water.
So, Dave, how do you unhook a pickerel without causing damage to the fish or yourself?
Not that I plan on meeting another pickerel this way ever again! As I have said before, I do not fish and I was much dumber then than I am now!
bjs04/2006

___________________________________________________________________________

Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides

Since Dave has focused on bass fishing in his article, it seems like a good time to switch from feathered and furred friends to fish.
After all, fishing season has begun, especially with the bouts of warm weather we have been fortunate to have.

The largemouth bass is a member of the sunfish family. It is native to the southeastern and midwestern parts of the United States.
A popular fish for sport fishing, the largemouth bass has been introduced to other areas of the country. Victory Lakes can thank Mr. Lehman for stocking the bass that call our lakes home. The catch and release program that we are using for fishing at this time has allowed the bass to proliferate in the lakes.

For those of you who do not fish (and this includes me), largemouth bass are the scrappiest fish that swim in fresh water. Anglers have learned that they are exciting fish to catch because of their jolting strikes at baited hooks and their wild airborne leaps. It was pointed out to me one summer day that the bass were leaping out of the water on Sunset Lake to catch flies hovering near the surface. The bass were fascinating to watch as they twisted and turned in midair.

Largemouth bass are marked by a ragged horizontal stripe, formed by a series of dark blotches, along the length of each side. These lines are used by the bass as motion detectors to locate prey or to avoid becoming prey at night or other dark water conditions. The upper jaw extends beyond the back of the eye. Bass can live as long as 23 years. the largest recorded bass was 38 inches long and weighed 22 pounds.

The bass prefer calm. clear, warm water and are found in slow moving streams, ponds, and lakes. They are predatory and will feed on frogs, crayfish, and even small ducklings. They are also reported to be cannibalistic.

Males select nest sites when the water remains above 60 degrees. The male fans out a nest about 20 inches in diameter and 6 inches deep. Nests are usually 7 to 8 feet from the shoreline in depths of 1 to 4 feet. Nests are spaced at least 20 feet apart by the males.

Like its relative, the Sunfish, the male will begin circling the nest when water temperatures reach 65 to 75 degrees to entice a female to spawn. When a female joins a male, they will circle the nest side by side. Spawning occurs when they tilt on their sides with their vents in close proximity and release eggs and sperm.

The female will contain an average of 4000 eggs. During spawning she will release a few hundred adhesive eggs and then swim off. She then may return later to the same nest or move on to another nest. A male’s nest can contain a few hundred to several thousand eggs laid by several females.

Males guard the nest during incubation. Hatching takes place between 5 to 10 days dependant upon the water temperature. The fry (offspring) will remain in the nests until their egg yolks are depleted, usually in 1 to 2 weeks. When they leave the nest, they measure from ˝ to 1 inch long. The male remains on nest guard until this time. In southern climes all this activity usually begins in April but may not take place until June in northern areas.

Males that were in poor condition before spawning may die from the rigors of nest guarding. Then a nest can be savaged by predators and lost. Some males, despite their best guarding efforts, have lost an entire nest to predators.

The young form schools and remain guarded by the male until they are large enough to fend for themselves.. The fry initially feed upon zoo-plankton. As they grow larger, they begin to add insects to their diet and then, finally, fish. Largemouth can grow to 2 pounds their first year but in nature are more likely to grow to ˝ pound. Females are the larger of the species. Northern females will most likely reach a maximum weight of 10 pounds while southern females can tip the scales at 20 pounds. All growth depends upon climate, water conditions, and available food.

How to catch and release a fish………
The slime coat on most fish is very fragile. Clear breaks or cuts are usually fatal. This coating protects the fish from infection much like our own skin. If infection occurs, it will invade the body and cause decay, inviting attacks from other fish.
Damage to the scales is even worse.
If you must handle a fish, keep your hands wet and cup them. A firm grasp destroys the slime coat and kills the fish. Putting the fish on a rough surface such as sand or rocks condemns it.

If you can release a fish without touching it, it will live to be caught another day. Use needle nose pliers to grasp the hook. Hold the hook upside down and shake it while holding the fish over the water. Single hooks are recommended as multiple hook punctures increase the odds of infection. If these wounds occur to the exterior surface of the fish it will be fatal.

Artificial lures are better than bait because they will hook in the mouth rather than in the throat. Use a heavy line to bring the fish in quickly. A lighter line will prolong the fight and the fish may not have reserves left to rucuperate from the stress.

Largemouth bass do handle the stress better than other species. They can be taken out of the water, photographed, and weighed with a good chance of survival. Trout should not be removed from water and the needle nose pliers method used.

For more information about catch and release visit this site: http://swr.nmfs.noaa.gov/habsc22.htg/bm1.htm

bjs03/2006
______________________________________________________________________________ Bald Eagle
Haliaeetus Leucocephalus

Note: The pictures interspersed throughout this article were sent via an e-mail 6 months ago. The unknown photographer captured the images of the Eagle parents and their young somewhere in British Columbia, Canada. They are so extraordinary that they need to be shared.
Please enjoy them as much as other Internet users have.

Because the Bald Eagle is near the top of the food chain, the bird is an “irreplaceable indicator for measuring the health of the ecological system in which they live.”
Although the eagles were officially declared endangered in 1967, they were not listed as Endangered until the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
Our National Symbol was upgraded to Threatened on August 11, 1995, due to the successes of conservation efforts at replenishing the population.
They remain on the Threatened list today. In 1982 there was only one viable nest in New Jersey.
Biologists removed the thin shelled eggs (a result of DDT), placed them under chickens for incubation, and then returned the ten day old chicks to the nest to be cared for by their parents.
Between 1983 and 1989, 60 Eaglets, primarily “hacked” from Canada, were released in New Jersey’s primary bald eagle habitat area.
By 2001 there were 27 active Bald Eagle nests and a record 34 young were fledged. We are very fortunate to have a Bald Eagle nest in our area.

In the last couple of weeks (January and February) our Bald Eagle has been very active over the Victory and Timber Lakes area.
The bird was witnessed and heard making its cry as it battled with two other birds (thought to be Osprey because their color and size) high above our area.
The witness description included the eagle flying upside down and performing a myriad of aerial aerobatics as it continued its dispute with the other two birds.
The fight may have been over a tasty fish. The white head was very visible, permitting accurate identification. The eagle was also observed flying in a straight line over the Victory Lakes on a Saturday afternoon.
Keep a watch for him/her and grab your camera if you are lucky enough to spot the eagle.

The Bald Eagle is found only on the North American continent. Adult males weigh about 9 lbs. while the adult female weighs between 13 to 14 lbs.
Their wing span can reach 7’. Eaglets are mottled brown and white. Bald eagles show a white head when they reach 5 years of age.
Wild bald eagles live to 30-35 years; captive birds can reach 50 years of age.

Halo means “sea”; aeetos is “eagle”; leukos is “white; and cephalus means “head’. Thus the scientific name is interpreted as “sea eagle with white head”.
Eagles feed mainly on fish. They can fly 20 to 30 mph but have been clocked at over100 mph in a dive. Their keen eyesight allows them to spot a fish a mile away.
Eagles hunt during the day as they can se colors. The eagle will swoop down to catch a fish in its talons to carry it away but the maximum weight an eagle can carry is 5 lbs.
Eagles have been observed using their wings to swim to shore with a particularly heavy fish. It is said that Eagles have been known to drown trying to lift a fish that weighed too much.
When fish are in short supply, eagles will supplement their diet with water fowl, small mammals, and carrion.
Since our lakes are well stocked, Victory Lakes is essential to our Bald Eagle’s survival.

Bald Eagles mate for life and remain together during the nesting period. Courtship begins in early April and can involve spectacular aerial displays such as locking talons and descending several hundred feet in a series of spiralling somersaults.
They build enormous nests from leaves and twigs. These nests are usually at the top of a tall tree or on a cliff.
Nests will weigh about 1 ton, but if the eagles continue to use the nest each subsequent year, they will add more material to the nest causing the nest to eventually reach a weight of 2 tons!

One to three eggs, but more commonly two eggs, are laid and hatch between late May and early June after a 34 day incubation.
At 4 months of age the eaglets appear larger than their parents because of their longer flight feathers which serve as “training wheels”.
By late summer the offspring take off to be on their own. Eagles will migrate in winter to be near waterways that do not freeze and/or have abundant food.

Interesting tidbits;
1. Eagles will not fly in the rain. This phenomenon has been observed at Turkey Point in Cumberland County where the Bald Eagle is proliferating.
2. Unlike other eagles whose feet are feathered to the talons, the Bald Eagle has bare feet, or tarsi, to accommodate fishing. 3. Their eyes, like other raptors, have two centers of focus on the retina.
One is for the horizontal, or regular, plane. The other is higher on the retina and focuses toward the ground. The birds not only see two images because their eyes sit on either side of the head, they also see two images from below. That is 4 images being seen at once!
4. When hunting waterfowl that are bunched together, the eagle will pendulum over the group. This usually sends at least one bird into a panic causing it to separate from the group and make it easy prey for the eagle.
5. Eagles use their beak to remove indigestible fur or feathers from their prey. They will swallow smaller prey whole and regurgitate the inedible parts (bone, hair, feathers). Feb. 2006 bjs
______________________________________________________________________________

BUFFLEHEAD DUCK

Bufflehead Duck
Bucephala albeola
(Nicknames: Bumblebee Dipper, Robin Dipper, Hell-diver, Spirit Duck, and Butterball)

When Dee told me there were Bufflehead ducks visiting our lakes, I thought “Buckle what? What kind of name is this and why are we excited to see another duck?”
Research has taught me that this duck does warrant interest, but first I need to explain why “buffle” is a prominent part of the name.
Buffle is an obsolete French word that describes having a large head. Examples include the American buffalo or the Asian water buffalo. Obviously, the Bufflehead duck, particularly the male, has a large head.

Bufflehead

Bufflehead are the smallest diving duck in North America. They are energetic creatures that have been described as being constantly in motion. If you look closely, you will discover that they are strikingly beautiful.
Breeding adult Drake (male) heads are dark green-and-black or purple with a touch of bronze iridescence. A large white patch extends from the eye to the back of the head. Their back and wings are black while their underparts are white. The inner wing does have a large white patch.
The females are mostly brown on the head, back, and wings. They have a white ear patch and a smaller white wing patch than the male. Their underparts are a pale gray.
Immature birds, yearling males, and males who are molting will resemble the females. Bufflehead duck bills are small and the bodies are chunky. Males weigh about 1 lb. and females 11 oz.

Bufflehead have a rapid wing beat that does not produce a wing whistle like their close relative, the Goldeneye duck. They fly low over water but high over land. Studies have shown that Bufflehead fly only at night during migration, but if there is severe weather they will continue the migration by flying during the day. Flight from water purchase is achieved without the necessity of running on the water but by flying out of the water; they obtain flight more rapidly than other diving ducks because of their small bodies, probably giving them greater opportunity to escape predators.

They are relatively quiet ducks except when courting or protecting their territory or nest and brood. Courting males will growl or chatter while females make guttural noises or a chuk-chuk-chuk sound while searching for a nesting spot.
Bufflehead live by lakes, rivers, and bays; as a whole, they do not appear to have a preference for salt water over fresh water but stay where food is abundant. They will avoid bodies of water that have large amounts of emergent or floating aquatic vegetation. Most breed in the northwestern part of North America. When winter nears in these areas, they will migrate to the Pacific (from Alaska’s Aleutian Islands to mid Mexico), Gulf, and Atlantic coasts (from Canada to mid Mexico) and along the Mississippi River. Migration flocks usually consist of 50 or less ducks. Sandy Hook, NJ, reports their yearly arrival time to be about October 20 and their departure is around May 20.

Females always return to their natal area for breeding. Both males and females breed after their second year and will form pairs during winter or spring. Pairs are monogamous and may continue to mate for several years. Bufflehead pairs engage in courtship displays every season of the year. Displays occur in the air and on the water and include fly-overs, wing-shakes, head-bobbing, and head-shakes. Drakes can erect their head feathers to double the size of the white check patch making their head appear circular. Males defend a territory and their mate against other males or Bufflehead pairs and other duck species. One tactic is to dive underwater, swim to the offender, and attack by emerging from the dive underneath the other bird. Attacks usually consist of splashing water with their wings. Afterward, the territory victor will swim vigorously about with the female following with her neck stretched out.

The female with a brood will defend the territory presumably to preserve food for her ducklings. They are cavity nesters and often use holes (as small as 2.25 inches) made by woodpeckers in trees (aspen and poplar are preferred) near water. Nest boxes specific for Bufflehead ducks are accepted if placed correctly near water. In hard times, two broods have been known to share one hole. Females lay 6-11 eggs, laying one every 1-3 days. Incubation takes 28-33 days; ducklings remain in the nest 24-36 hours after hatching. Drakes do not participate in rearing the brood. The females abandon their ducklings when they are 5-6 weeks old before they are able to fly (at 50-55 days old). At this time the ducklings will join with neighboring broods to form large brood flocks. The ducklings are capable of diving and foraging for food.
Bufflehead feed by diving in open shallow water. Diet consists of invertebrates (dragonfly), mollusks (clams, snails), aquatic plant seeds, insects (dragonflies), crustaceans (shrimp, crabs), and small fish. During the short winter days they will often continue to forage after dark to secure enough food to survive. One or two ducks will remain as sentinels while the remainder of the flock dives for food. Dives average 12.5 seconds in length. Prey is swallowed underwater. It is thought that during fall, winter, and spring Bucklehead ducks consume more plant material such as the seeds of pondweed and bulrushes.

This species is not endangered or threatened. However, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries overshooting did reduce Bufflehead population. They have made a slow but steady recovery due to protective treaties between Canada and the US. But hunting is evidently still permitted as I did come across a website that described how to hunt for Bufflehead. Other concerns include the clearing of aspen parklands (for logging and agriculture) reducing the size of their breeding habitat and Bufflehead wintering in heavily industrialized areas along the US east coast that exposes the ducks to heavy metals and other toxic contaminants.

Buffleheads have always visited us in the fall and spring as I have observed them during my walks, but I did not pay close attention to them (just another duck!). This year has been extraordinary because they have stayed much longer than usual with us, most likely because of the mild weather. If you, like I, haven’t paid attention, take a walk or a bike ride to the lakes to take a gander at them. When the cold hits and the lakes ice over, the Bufflehead ducks are sure to leave us for the saltwater areas. Thanks to our local environmentalists (Dee, Mike, and Pat) who brought these extraordinary creatures to my attention!
January 2006
bjs
>______________________________________________________________________________

Snapping Turtle

Common Snapping Turtle
Chelydra serpentine

This is a turtle that demands respect! When in disturbed in water, the snapper will quietly slip away. On land, however, the turtle can become very aggressive when confronted. It will not hesitate to defend itself and strikes with amazing speed and force. It will “hump up”, hiss, and emit a musky odor when approached. The turtle can strike straight out or to the sides. More dangerously, the snapper can strike back across the upper shell toward the rear with its head upside down; Dillon has observed some turtles reach backwards along two-thirds of the length of the shell. The powerful jaws are capable of damaging flesh very badly.

Why doesn’t this turtle simply hide inside its shell like other turtles? One article described the snapper as a “size 10 turtle trying to fit into a size 6 shell”. Diet won’t help this guy. The turtle shell consists of an upper shell, or carapace, and a lower shell, or plastron, connected by bony bridges. Most interesting is that the vertebral column is fused to the carapace. This means that the shoulder and hip joints are inside the shell and the limbs cannot be fully retracted into the shell. The snapper’s serpentine neck will allow the turtle to pull its head into the shell by curving its neck vertically into an “S” shape.

Adult turtles can weigh more than 70 pounds but average weight is 30 to 40 pounds. The head is large; the upper jaw is hooked. Skin color is grayish black with a warty, rough appearance. The carapace can grow to 18.5” in length. The back edge of the carapace is saw-toothed. Three low keels on the carapace are prominent in young turtles but smooth out in older turtles. Carapace color varies from olive to brown or tan to black. The plastron is smaller than the carapace and is cross shaped. The tail resembles a crocodile tail in that it is long and saw-toothed.

The snapping turtle is found only in the Western Hemisphere. Its range extends from Canada to Ecuador. In the United States, the range extends east from the Rockies, but the turtle can be found elsewhere due to illegal transport to states west of the Rockies. My research shows that the snapper has become a problem in California where it is a threat to native fauna. It likes muddy lakes and ponds or slow moving rivers. Highly aquatic, it likes to rest in warm shallows, buried in mud, with only its eyes and nostrils exposed. Snappers emerge in April from their winter digs under an overhanging bank or vegetative growth, such as yellow water lilies or tall grass, or from inside a muskrat lodge. There are studies that have observed snapper turtle movement under the ice of frozen lakes.

Snapping turtles eat just about anything they can catch: fish, frogs, snails, vegetable matter, insects, carrion, small mammals and reptiles, and water fowl. I have been told by people whose homes are on lakefront property that it is not unusual to see a duck suddenly disappear under the lake surface. Snappers will even hunt other snapping turtles and snakes. Younger turtles tend to be more aggressive in pursuing prey than older snappers. The stomach contents of older turtles will contain 20 to 40 % vegetable matter; this may be because older turtles seem to wait for prey to swim by rather than actively hunt for food. Snappers consume small prey whole and tear larger prey into pieces with their large claws. They kill their most of their prey by drowning them.

Sexual maturity is reached when the carapace is 8” long. Snappers mate from May to November. Dillon speculates that the females may somehow store the sperm or fertilized eggs across seasonal borders. Twenty to forty eggs resembling ping pong balls are laid in a nest the female, using her hind feet, has dug out in well drained sandy soil. Eggs are laid from early June to mid July. Incubation ranges from 55 days to 125 based upon geographic location; the warmer the location, the faster they “cook”.

Hatchlings are preyed upon by large birds (herons, hawks), alligators, large fish, and snapping turtles. Adults are primarily preyed upon by humans, but otters, bears, alligators, and coyote will also feed on them. Life span has been estimated at 30 to 40 years.

12/2005 BJS >______________________________________________________________________________

Groundhog/Woodchuck

Groundhog
Also known as Woodchuck/Gopher
Marmota monax

This summer my neighbor’s dogs treed a groundhog. Granted the groundhog was only able to climb up two feet and the dogs were small fox terriers, but he/she was holding on to the small tree trunk for dear life and shaking like a leaf as the terriers sniffed his/her rump. We didn’t get any photos as we were busy controlling our dogs so the groundhog could make a get away. Fat as he/she was from putting on the feedbag all summer by visiting the three vegetable gardens in the immediate vicinity, this groundhog could really book once we got our vicious dogs inside.

Obviously, the new development on Malaga Rd., where I would see groundhogs grazing along the roadside in previous years, has driven some of the groundhogs down to our area. True gardeners are very unhappy about this turn of events. I thought a little knowledge about groundhogs would assist our gardeners in saving their vegetables and flowers from the insatiable groundhog next season.

The groundhog is a member of the rodent family and is related to squirrels, prairie dogs, and chipmunks. They are stocky little animals with flattened heads, small ears, and short bushy tails. Their weight ranges from 4 ˝ to 14 pounds. Fur color ranges from yellowish to dark reddish brown with intermediate brown as the most common color. The occasional woodchuck may have completely black (melanistic) or white (albino) fur. Albino groundhogs rarely survive for long as the white fur makes them an easy target for predators. Their feet have sturdy claws (4 claws on the front paws and 5 on the back paws) used for digging burrows. Their legs are short and thick. When confronted with an enemy a groundhog will make a hasty escape to the nearest burrow as groundhogs are unlikely to outrun a predator. They are good swimmers and climbers and will climb a tree near their burrows for a vantage point.

Groundhogs have a variety of noises that they will make. If alarmed, the animal will give a loud, sharp whistle, followed by softer ones as it runs for its burrow. When agitated, it will chatter its teeth, and it will hiss, squeal, and growl. They also bark but the reason for this vocalization is unknown.

underground burrow

Burrows usually have a main entrance with one or more “spy holes” for added safety from predators. There are two chambers: a toilet chamber and a nesting chamber. The nesting chamber has a bed of dry grasses and is used for sleeping, hibernation, and as a nursery. Groundhogs will readily burrow under homes or sheds, creating a potential for structural damage.

This sun loving animal is active during the day and feeds early morning and late afternoon. The remainder of the day may be spent near the burrow soaking up the sunshine. By late summer or early fall, the groundhog fattens up for winter hibernation in the burrow where it will curl up into a ball as it sleeps in a comatose-like state. All groundhogs are underground by late October.

Hibernation ends in early spring (February2 is the traditional date). Males will seek out a mate at this time and will briefly share the burrow of a receptive female (the only time two adults share a den). Babies are born in April or May after a gestation period of 30 days. Young woodchucks emerge from the den at 5 to 6 weeks of age and proceed to grow rapidly. The average lifespan of a groundhog is 10 years, but is probably less depending upon existing predators (and automobiles). Fresh green vegetation is the food of choice. Groundhogs eat a variety of wild plants and clover. They love vegetables, particularly tomatoes, fruit, corn, and any ground growing vegetable, if they are available for the taking. They will occasionally eat snails, insects, or young birds. In early spring they will feed upon small branches and bark.

Advice for the gardener includes using a product called Ropel on desirable plants, such as your vegetables. The spray tastes terrible and the groundhog will move on to other vegetation as long as there is an abundance of other plants to choose from. The Ropel will last 2 to 6 weeks unless a rain washes it off. Another suggestion is to use animal netting around your vegetables and will also keep the rabbits and squirrels from the fruits of your labor. Trapping and relocating is another choice.
For more information about these methods you can visit http://www.bugspray.com/articles99/woodchucks.html.
There are upsides to having a moderate population of groundhogs. The toilet chamber of the burrow fertilizes the earth. Groundhog digging loosens the soil and aerates the dirt, letting in moisture and organic matter. The digging also brings up subsoil for transformation to topsoil (if only we could train them to do this to our gardens each spring, we could chuck our rototilers and shovels!). Fact: groundhog turn over 1.6 million tons of soil in New York state in one year.
November 2005 BJS
______________________________________________________________________________