The followed story is true, mostly.
The South Dakota ground hogs (the Western Marmot, aka woodchuck) saw no shadow today, not due to the snow storm; but because they, as 'true hibernators', are asleep in a deep burrow and emerge only in early spring. February 2nd in South Dakota is definitely not, by any stretch of the imagination, spring.
For much of the time we have lived in this old house, we have shared our space with one or more marmots. One who lived under our deck was rather special. We named him Woodrow Charles and called him Woody. He was quite fond of apples and peanut butter; living in the 'Old Orchard' with several apple trees must have been (ground) hog heaven for him.
Since he lived on our property, ate our apples, and was considered part of the family we decided he should be listed as a dependent on our income tax return. As you may know, one must provide a social security number for each dependent declared. The United States Social Security Administration had no particular objection to a marmot having a SSN, but they stubbornly insisted that said marmot have a birth certificate. We soon discovered that if you fill out the blank on the birth certificate application asking "Where Born" with "in a burrow in the ground" there is little chance of getting that birth certificate.
One day, when a door was left open, Woody wandered into the garage. Then when the door was closed he was became trapped there overnight. In the morning he was in full panic mode, trying to jump to a high window and causing a lot of racket. Worried that he would injure himself, we enlisted Animal Control to help. With the help of apples, peanut butter and patience, we succeeded in getting him in a live trap. He was then escorted to the woods. We imagine he found other Marmots there with whom he interacted and formed relationships; maybe even romantic entanglements. Wherever he is now, he is probably wondering what happened to his apples and peanut butter.
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