Melvin in Paints

By now he is probably quite plump in preparation for his long winter's hibernation. I guess he would be quite surprised to find himself the subject of a painting (although I think my talents might have already peaked on the pronghorns). Poor Melvin looks more like a groundhog. Mind you, groundhogs can be pretty cute themselves. Have you seen the movie "Groundhog Day"? I find it hilarious, with the notable exception of Andie McDowell who can't act, speaks with a grating accent, and just generally irritates me.
To be fair (to myself, not Andie McDowell), the genus of the groundhog is "marmota", so I shouldn't feel too far off the mark. I guess the biggest difference between the two species is that there's no way a guy like Melvin (or his pals Barney and Mildred) will stick his nose out of his burrow anytime in February. That would just be ridiculous, when the snow isn't going anywhere until June.



I used to see groundhogs sometimes along the Rappahannock in Virginia, and I knew that they were also called woodchucks (as in how much wood could a woodchuck chuck?), but I recently learned that they are also called land beavers and whistlepigs in some parts of the country. I guess we could just lump them all in as ground squirrels and be done with it, but when I think of ground squirrels, I picture the much smaller variety.

Marmots are simple creatures who don't hold with having lots of nicknames. They are only called marmots. These guys are all yellow-bellied marmots. Hoary marmots also live in the U.S., but further north (I've seen them in Montana and Washington State).

By the way, you won't have met Mildred yet, so I've attached her photograph.