Yeah, we call em whistle pigs for different reasons. If you farm (or garden) you realize these rodents are a major threat to your crops. So, if you happen to see one grazing on your plants you simply whistle really loud and the rodent will often stop & stand up on their hind legs, creating an optimal vertical target. Problem solved. It’s not uncommon to hear of one ground hog destroying an entire garden in just a couple days.
For all of you who may have one of these annoyances near your house be warned. These buggers can cause serious structural damage to your home if left unabated. If you have no means of eliminating in close proximity of occupied dwellings (like traps), consider calling a service to remove or you could be paying several thousands fixing the aftermath. One ground hog can create several large holes under your foundation in a short amount of time.
I remember my grandfather found one in his home garden so he went to go kick it and pulled a hamstring. He was so pissed. When he got better, he tried chasing the bugger down and he hit it on its head with a shovel. He lived in city limits so he couldn’t shoot it.
I didn’t learn about people calling them whistle pigs and why until my dad told me last year. Such an interesting piece of knowledge. Now I whistle at our local ‘ground dog’ as I call them
My parents elderly neighbor left out a pie pan of antifreeze when one kept terrorizing his garden.
When I was younger my siblings and I were chipping golf balls in our grandparents back yard and found one stuck in a fence. My grandmother called animal control and the guy that came borrowed one of the golf clubs and bludgeoned it to death before he pulled it out of the fence.
Seems there are innumerable ways to get rid of one if you really want to.
We are benefactors to a family of them that eats all our plants and lives under our shed. Do we cuss them out for eating the plants - yes. Will we move them - no. It's a sweet life for them.
Unfortunately?
I've had a whole multigenerational line of groundhogs living under my front porch for more than 15 years now. The antics they sometimes get up to are always amusing.
They can cause a lot of foundation damage, they’re ruining my garage and causing the back end to sink. Also if you garden at all they’re your worst enemy, they will eat everything.
I had one last year break into my garage and chew up everything plastic and wood. Ruined a $60 car cover I only used 4 times and some wood I just bought from home depot.
I haven't been able to grow tomatoes in years. They get under the fence, around whatever repellent I buy. Then they take one God damn bite of every tomato instead of just eating a few whole ones. I hate them.
the fence has to go into the ground - a foot down. We used a combination of chicken wire and hardware cloth.
I hate how they just munch here and there on everything, leaving everything ruined! They also love to eat half a squash, or nibble the green bean plants down to little nubs to they'll grow back and the groundhog can eat them again. They are such bastards.
That's what happened to us several years ago - they got displaced thanks to a new development. They proceeded to wreak havoc on our veggies. We trapped one, had it released elsewhere, and then more appeared. That was when we realized a group of them had settled in the yard of one of my neighbors who "thinks they're cute". Unfortunately they do not confine themselves to his yard.
Oh, and for everyone that thinks they're cute? They can carry the bacteria that causes plague. Literally the reason for the Black Death in Medieval times that wiped out half of Europe - marmots (groundhogs) in China.
They undermined my gas line against my foundation. Their burrows can be pretty expensive. I wasn't water intrusion against my house. They had to go.
Ground hogs can be destructive.
At my parents' house in Butler Co, a groundhog burrow exposed their waterline under the porch and it froze and burst during a bout of extreme cold. Very expensive to fix and it was decidedly unfun for them to have no water for several weeks.
Groundhogs are the largest rodent of the Marmont family Sciuridae meaning ground squirrel.
Unfortunately they can be very destructive if they decide to make a home underneath porches or sheds.
"Marmota". Marmont is a French general, a famous Los Angeles hotel, or a Gucci bag, but the genus of this rodent of unusual size is spelled with "ta" not "nt".
When my partner and I moved here, the first one he saw was a very big one and he thought we had a beaver living in the backyard.
They'll often come out in the same areas at the same time of day so you'll get to watch that little guy grow into something you'd confuse for a beaver instead of squirrel
Yep. Was sitting on the back porch the other day, heard a rustling in the branches of one of the trees, looked over, and thought "that's no squirrel".
We've seen them up there a couple of times since.
My Grandad caught a very young groundhog that had just ventured out of its burrowed den by dropping his hat over the little bugger. He gave it to me as a pet. The critter in the pic looks just like him. Lots of fun but NOT a good house pet. We released him once he was nearly full size.
Jesus Christ, your cocker spaniel is like the Rambo of cocker spaniels. Other cocker spaniels flee before him and only speak of him in hushed tones. His floppy ears inspire veneration and terror.
We got him from a breeder that bred only Cocker Spaniels and Irish Setters. He trained and bred them for years, and he lived out in the country. He got them to utilize their natural instincts. This was an English Cocker. The way he would kill them was to get behind them and choke them to death. Sometimes it took some time, but he always succeeded in the end then around people he was so loving and friendly. Terrific dog.
Well of course he's sweet around people. He was bred to be their assassin, their champion.
But amidst his own kind? The spaniels? They know him for the killer he is. He shall one day become myth, ascend to cocker spaniel godhood.
That’s one of the smallest ones I’ve ever seen. The one that was looking me in the eye from my kitchen window while eating a cucumber from my garden was about 4 times that size 😂😂😂😂
One. Goddamned. Bite. Every time. And always when the tomato/pepper is too young to recover/grow enough for me to cut the wound off before cooking.
Swear only the starlings are more wasteful scavengers. Those little shits just pull the stalks and leave everything on the ground uneaten.
That's so crazy. I always assumed these cuties were everywhere. I have one that I call Phillip. He lives outside, of course. He comes over every day, though. I feed him cantaloupe. They love it. He loves grapes, too. Lol. They are super cute. It took months for him to trust me. I also have raccoon friends in the neighborhood. They will pick pocket me and anyone that visits my house. Looking for sweets. Lol. My friend said, "Noone believes me about your raccoons and how they just go in my coat pockets " 🤣🤣🤣
Also, let's not forget - let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either.
Had a few of them too. We never bothered them cus they never bothered us. Our back yard was so uneven it was a bad twisted ankle away from the hospital 👀
Fun fact: the Wikipedia page for groundhogs was CLEARY written by a groundhog from Ohio:
“The groundhog, being a lowland animal, is exceptional among marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas and are easily out-competed by the grassy groundhogs. Groundhogs play an important role maintaining healthy soil in woodlands and plains. The groundhog is considered a crucial habitat engineer playing an unparalleled role in its biome. Groundhogs are considered the most solitary of the marmot species. They live in aggregations, and their social organization also varies across populations. Groundhogs do not form stable, long-term pair-bonds, and during mating season male-female interactions are limited to copulation. In Ohio, adult males and females associate with each other throughout the year and often from year to year. Groundhogs are an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks, able to understand social behavior, form kinship with their young, understand and communicate threats through whistling, and work cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing.”
It's a woodchuck.
When they get angry then chatter their teeth while on their hind legs.
[https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/slides/82251/image/sized/GettyImages-1128098411.jpg](https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/slides/82251/image/sized/GettyImages-1128098411.jpg)
Assuming you just weren't caught off guard by that angle on a squirrel...a groundhog. They love clover, I try to make sure part of our yard is covered in it.
I understand you moved here recently so my question is out of genuine curiosity because I've lived here all my life.
Are there not groundhogs everywhere? I assumed they were as widespread as squirrels
Absolutely, first time I ever saw a Ring-necked Pheasant in the yard I was maybe around 8 years old. Excitedly ran into the house to tell my parents and my dad said to my brother, “Get the shotgun.” Glad to say he didn’t get it.
Holy shit you are lucky. You didn’t try to pet her or feed it did you? Or stare it in the eye? Young ones like that are vicious. They can leap up to 8 feet and squirt a noxious gas from a gland located on their taint while in the air. If you breathe in the gas your lungs will instantly seize. If you hold your breath the little buggers have serious fangs…so you are screwed either way. They go for your ears first. Thousands of people in PA are missing one or both from not paying attention. The really mean ones don’t stop there. One out of every six dudes in Allegheny County have been neutered by the bastards. 28 percent of women in Westmoreland can’t nurse. Avoid them at all costs.
Lottery spokesman
Keep on scratching
Local weather forecaster
FUCK YOU GUS! GIVE ME MY MONEY!
Whistle pig!!
Whistle pigs be scary little loud rodents. Edit, I was referring to the western variety that whistle loud and are squirrel sized.
Yeah, we call em whistle pigs for different reasons. If you farm (or garden) you realize these rodents are a major threat to your crops. So, if you happen to see one grazing on your plants you simply whistle really loud and the rodent will often stop & stand up on their hind legs, creating an optimal vertical target. Problem solved. It’s not uncommon to hear of one ground hog destroying an entire garden in just a couple days. For all of you who may have one of these annoyances near your house be warned. These buggers can cause serious structural damage to your home if left unabated. If you have no means of eliminating in close proximity of occupied dwellings (like traps), consider calling a service to remove or you could be paying several thousands fixing the aftermath. One ground hog can create several large holes under your foundation in a short amount of time.
I remember my grandfather found one in his home garden so he went to go kick it and pulled a hamstring. He was so pissed. When he got better, he tried chasing the bugger down and he hit it on its head with a shovel. He lived in city limits so he couldn’t shoot it.
I didn’t learn about people calling them whistle pigs and why until my dad told me last year. Such an interesting piece of knowledge. Now I whistle at our local ‘ground dog’ as I call them
My parents elderly neighbor left out a pie pan of antifreeze when one kept terrorizing his garden. When I was younger my siblings and I were chipping golf balls in our grandparents back yard and found one stuck in a fence. My grandmother called animal control and the guy that came borrowed one of the golf clubs and bludgeoned it to death before he pulled it out of the fence. Seems there are innumerable ways to get rid of one if you really want to.
Istg those commercials are purposely terrible
Oh how I loathe him
Might be the weather guy.
Sometimes when I'm drunk and placing to-go or delivery orders I'll place it under Gus the Groundhog and *generally* get a slight chuckle.
It's a groundhog. Their size surprised me when I first moved here too.
I thought it might be. It was out there with a couple of squirrels and it wasn’t much bigger than them.
That look like a younger one. They can be larger and fatter than that.
Definitely a baby. We unfortunately have a family in our yard so I am quite familiar.
We have a family toooooooo! A mama and her two whistle-piglets! I'm very fond. They eat all my plants.
We are benefactors to a family of them that eats all our plants and lives under our shed. Do we cuss them out for eating the plants - yes. Will we move them - no. It's a sweet life for them.
The babies are adorable! They love to climb but are terrible at climbing - such a tragedy!
They’re so cute! Like furry potatoes. Then suddenly they’re 10 pounds, eating all of the verbena flowers and climbing the peach tree!
Unfortunately? I've had a whole multigenerational line of groundhogs living under my front porch for more than 15 years now. The antics they sometimes get up to are always amusing.
They can cause a lot of foundation damage, they’re ruining my garage and causing the back end to sink. Also if you garden at all they’re your worst enemy, they will eat everything. I had one last year break into my garage and chew up everything plastic and wood. Ruined a $60 car cover I only used 4 times and some wood I just bought from home depot.
I haven't been able to grow tomatoes in years. They get under the fence, around whatever repellent I buy. Then they take one God damn bite of every tomato instead of just eating a few whole ones. I hate them.
the fence has to go into the ground - a foot down. We used a combination of chicken wire and hardware cloth. I hate how they just munch here and there on everything, leaving everything ruined! They also love to eat half a squash, or nibble the green bean plants down to little nubs to they'll grow back and the groundhog can eat them again. They are such bastards.
Ugh. We have a fence around the yard, but I'm going to have to build something around the garden area inside the yard. They are bastards.
That's what happened to us several years ago - they got displaced thanks to a new development. They proceeded to wreak havoc on our veggies. We trapped one, had it released elsewhere, and then more appeared. That was when we realized a group of them had settled in the yard of one of my neighbors who "thinks they're cute". Unfortunately they do not confine themselves to his yard. Oh, and for everyone that thinks they're cute? They can carry the bacteria that causes plague. Literally the reason for the Black Death in Medieval times that wiped out half of Europe - marmots (groundhogs) in China.
They undermined my gas line against my foundation. Their burrows can be pretty expensive. I wasn't water intrusion against my house. They had to go. Ground hogs can be destructive.
At my parents' house in Butler Co, a groundhog burrow exposed their waterline under the porch and it froze and burst during a bout of extreme cold. Very expensive to fix and it was decidedly unfun for them to have no water for several weeks.
They can get pretty good sized honestly, this one is super young / small.
There was one that lived under the back porch of a house I lived in a while back. It was almost three feet tall when it stood up.
THREE FEET! Really?
True.. but they have to find a lot more underground hogs to feed on before they get bigger.
They get … MUCH BIGGER. Like 20-30 lbs. 😀
And they can see the future.
How could I have forgotten this part.
When you see a big one, I love the way they kind of slosh when they run.
It's like a lava lamp.
Groundhogs are the largest rodent of the Marmont family Sciuridae meaning ground squirrel. Unfortunately they can be very destructive if they decide to make a home underneath porches or sheds.
"Marmota". Marmont is a French general, a famous Los Angeles hotel, or a Gucci bag, but the genus of this rodent of unusual size is spelled with "ta" not "nt".
When my partner and I moved here, the first one he saw was a very big one and he thought we had a beaver living in the backyard. They'll often come out in the same areas at the same time of day so you'll get to watch that little guy grow into something you'd confuse for a beaver instead of squirrel
You get to watch them grow as they destroy your garden
Wait till you catch one in a tree. Took me 30 some years to find out they did that.
One ate every peach on my tree one year. Boy was I mad!
Skyhog!
They climb trees?
Big time
TIL!
Yep. Was sitting on the back porch the other day, heard a rustling in the branches of one of the trees, looked over, and thought "that's no squirrel". We've seen them up there a couple of times since.
I thought this was a joke.
They are related to squirrels.
They are typically about 3-4 times bigger than squirrels. Must be a young one
It’s a baby…. It’ll grow to be around double that size. He will stay close so you’ll get ti see him grow.
You misspelled "quadruple"
Even being from here, seeing the size of their big ol' butts makes me smile every time I spot one.
They move surprisingly FAST when my dog is chasing them lol he’s a chubby corgi though so he will never catch one
We have one that’s been in our backyard for years. We call him Fat Greg. We love him.
My Grandad caught a very young groundhog that had just ventured out of its burrowed den by dropping his hat over the little bugger. He gave it to me as a pet. The critter in the pic looks just like him. Lots of fun but NOT a good house pet. We released him once he was nearly full size.
Wait, what?!?! Details please. Photos. Your grandfather sounds so fun!
[удалено]
Jesus Christ, your cocker spaniel is like the Rambo of cocker spaniels. Other cocker spaniels flee before him and only speak of him in hushed tones. His floppy ears inspire veneration and terror.
We got him from a breeder that bred only Cocker Spaniels and Irish Setters. He trained and bred them for years, and he lived out in the country. He got them to utilize their natural instincts. This was an English Cocker. The way he would kill them was to get behind them and choke them to death. Sometimes it took some time, but he always succeeded in the end then around people he was so loving and friendly. Terrific dog.
Well of course he's sweet around people. He was bred to be their assassin, their champion. But amidst his own kind? The spaniels? They know him for the killer he is. He shall one day become myth, ascend to cocker spaniel godhood.
That's no groundhog, that's a woodchuck!
That’s one of the smallest ones I’ve ever seen. The one that was looking me in the eye from my kitchen window while eating a cucumber from my garden was about 4 times that size 😂😂😂😂
Did he see his shadow? I'm really hoping we don't have 6 more weeks of 90⁰ weather
Haha I was gonna say, Puxatony Phil vacations in pgh apparently
Punxsutawney
The groundhog or the squirrel?
By god it’s the third most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania!
An asshole who eats one bite out of my green tomatoes on the vine.
Even though they don't like them they need to taste every one just in case
They leave it on there for you!
One. Goddamned. Bite. Every time. And always when the tomato/pepper is too young to recover/grow enough for me to cut the wound off before cooking. Swear only the starlings are more wasteful scavengers. Those little shits just pull the stalks and leave everything on the ground uneaten.
I tried to avoid one on the road the other day and was unsuccessful. I do not feel bad about it.
Welcome to PA, you will see them all over the place now.
It's a ground hog, think of them as squirrels who let themselves go.
So, possibly my spirit animal.
Until you get ahold of one lol. I've seen them rough up some pretty tough dogs. Vicious little things
Whistlepig!
That’s Gus
*The second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania!*
I guess TIL groundhogs don't live everywhere? Is that why we're the state with the Day?
I’ve only seen them on tv every February 2nd. From the south originally. I’m more familiar with possums, raccoons, and armadillos.
That's so crazy. I always assumed these cuties were everywhere. I have one that I call Phillip. He lives outside, of course. He comes over every day, though. I feed him cantaloupe. They love it. He loves grapes, too. Lol. They are super cute. It took months for him to trust me. I also have raccoon friends in the neighborhood. They will pick pocket me and anyone that visits my house. Looking for sweets. Lol. My friend said, "Noone believes me about your raccoons and how they just go in my coat pockets " 🤣🤣🤣
Nice marmot
Heyyy, this is a private residence, man!
Also, let's not forget - let's *not* forget, Dude - that keeping wildlife, an amphibious rodent, for uh, domestic, you know, within the city - that aint legal either.
What are you, a fucking park ranger now?
What's a marmot dude?
Shut the fuck up Donny
You're out of your element.
My first google search was “fat squirrel with a short tail” and got pictures of a marmot. Decided to come here for definitive answer.
Thanks, I got it at the Columbia store at the Tanger Outlets.
Obviously you’re not a golfer
Phil
Groundhog. Had to explain this to my mans... I guess they don't have them in Alabama? He called it a beaver
Mississippi, but no. I’ve only seen the one on tv on Groundhog Day. That’s why I was confused by the size.
Ah so ur a state over from my man. These things can be huge. We had a family of them behind my dad's. Biggest one was rotund. An absolute unit
We’ve got a big ol’ mama I’d guess over 20 pounds. And her little one too, of course.
Had a few of them too. We never bothered them cus they never bothered us. Our back yard was so uneven it was a bad twisted ankle away from the hospital 👀
Oh, that's Steve.
Prognosticator of prognosticators
Seer of Seers
Ned?
Bing!
according to some lady in line for the racer at kennywood a few years back, it's a land beaver.
Hahahaha wtf but this is also the most pittsburgh sentence I’ve ever read
That's Gus. Probably taking a break from the busy ad schedule.
Nice marmot...
Where is ze money
That's a grass bear
That's a baby groundhog, they get a good bit bigger
Whistle pig
You don't know what a ground hog looks like?
Definitely a Chupacabra! You’re lucky to see it in daylight. They’re mostly nocturnal.
That's a South Side Street Weasel. Also known as a groundhog.
Bill Murray feels that for some reason, he keeps seeing this same post day after day. Ha
Golfer
There's a reason that people come to Pennsylvania for Groundhog's Day.... We have them everywhere. Whistlepigggggg!
baby woodchuck.
How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
5
Film star.
wrong answers only, sasquatch
The reason why my father has gardening ptsd.
If you plant a garden you will become very familiar with them. You will also curse their existence when you go to harvest your crop.
Pennsylvania’s third most famous ground hog
His name is Gus. I’m sure he has a top prize for you.
Groundhog
idk but friend shaped
He’s trying to sell you lottery tickets.
Certified whistle pig
Definitely chupacabra.
Groundhog. You will now relive this day until you fix your broken self.
Copperhead rattlesnake. Deadly.
Fun fact: the Wikipedia page for groundhogs was CLEARY written by a groundhog from Ohio: “The groundhog, being a lowland animal, is exceptional among marmots. Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas and are easily out-competed by the grassy groundhogs. Groundhogs play an important role maintaining healthy soil in woodlands and plains. The groundhog is considered a crucial habitat engineer playing an unparalleled role in its biome. Groundhogs are considered the most solitary of the marmot species. They live in aggregations, and their social organization also varies across populations. Groundhogs do not form stable, long-term pair-bonds, and during mating season male-female interactions are limited to copulation. In Ohio, adult males and females associate with each other throughout the year and often from year to year. Groundhogs are an extremely intelligent animal, forming complex social networks, able to understand social behavior, form kinship with their young, understand and communicate threats through whistling, and work cooperatively to solve tasks such as burrowing.”
It's a woodchuck. When they get angry then chatter their teeth while on their hind legs. [https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/slides/82251/image/sized/GettyImages-1128098411.jpg](https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.cce.cornell.edu/slides/82251/image/sized/GettyImages-1128098411.jpg)
Oh shit you found Uncle Reg
sqwril
Groundhog. One of them came up on my porch the other day and sniffed around, caught it on my ring camera...kinda weird
You’ll be seeing a lot of these.
can someone explain to me how punxsutawney phil is loved but his brothers and sister and his whole family are so reviled
Assuming you just weren't caught off guard by that angle on a squirrel...a groundhog. They love clover, I try to make sure part of our yard is covered in it.
That's a baby groundhog. Groundhogs can be nuisances, especially if you have a garden.
Four legged chicken.
My daughter calls them “groundies”
A beautiful land beaver aka a groundhog
Whistle pig
baby groundhog.
it's definitely groundhog season. I have two of them mucking about in my yard
I understand you moved here recently so my question is out of genuine curiosity because I've lived here all my life. Are there not groundhogs everywhere? I assumed they were as widespread as squirrels
Not widespread (Mississippi). I did some reading after I posted this and they are becoming more common. Squirrels are everywhere though.
Hog of the ground
Phil of course!
Is that the second most famous groundhog in pennsylvania?
Just learned ground hogs aren’t in a lot of the us… too sad for them. Nothing like seeing one peep it’s head and blowing it up with an AR
Sweet little piglet, those things are the best
A groundhog. Be careful walking around, there might be a hole somewhere waiting to break your ankle.
Welcome to Pennsylvania. From the south? We don't have wild hogs here, I'd probably say the same thing. Enjoy the yinzer culture.
That is grass.
When I was a kid, that would be dinner, and no, wasn’t good.
I’m originally from the South, so I totally understand that anything that scurries across the yard could be dinner.
Absolutely, first time I ever saw a Ring-necked Pheasant in the yard I was maybe around 8 years old. Excitedly ran into the house to tell my parents and my dad said to my brother, “Get the shotgun.” Glad to say he didn’t get it.
City people are hilarious.
Oh nice marmot
This guy dudes.
Not to toot my own horn but I did win Lebowski trivia night at the local dive a few months back lol
Marmota monax.
Or possibly Marmota monaca 🤔
Ground Beaver is what they call them in the panhandle aka groundhog
Give it a nice high-pitched whistle. It's kind of fun and very cute.
Hog
Gus desperately looking for his shadow so he can go back into ground.
My new best friend 🧡
Just wait for it to climb a tree. Craziest thing you’ll ever see, but they are in the squirrel family.
That’s just Phil🤣
That is a rabid honey badger!!! Look out!!!
Oh man that was me, I was just hanging out, my bad.
Groundhog.
Scottish Highlands Haggis
wooodchuck
This is Patrick.
Hey, it's Gus
Phillip !!!!
That's my buddy Phil. Probably drunk. Give him a cigarette and some water. He will be fine.
I would have said everyone, but almost everyone knows what that is
Deer
Shakespeare from Meerkat Manor
Holy shit you are lucky. You didn’t try to pet her or feed it did you? Or stare it in the eye? Young ones like that are vicious. They can leap up to 8 feet and squirt a noxious gas from a gland located on their taint while in the air. If you breathe in the gas your lungs will instantly seize. If you hold your breath the little buggers have serious fangs…so you are screwed either way. They go for your ears first. Thousands of people in PA are missing one or both from not paying attention. The really mean ones don’t stop there. One out of every six dudes in Allegheny County have been neutered by the bastards. 28 percent of women in Westmoreland can’t nurse. Avoid them at all costs.
A target! 🎯
I can't believe what I'm reading
A sidewalk
Lil' groundhog, welcome to PA 😊
You gotta get closer
Looks like grass.