Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
November 11, 1789
Primary Source Reference:
Freeman's Journal (Philadelphia), 11 Nov 1789
Additional Source Text:
In his Walk through the Phil[adelphi]a Museum" (1805-1806), p. 32, Peale wrote: "in Pennsylvania the Jerseys and Maryland called Groundhog or Monax, but in the Eastern [States it is known by the name?] Wood-chuck. They burrow in the ground, feed on vegetables in the summer, but sleep all the winter without eating, and in the spring are not lean. Here are two of them; the white is accidental."
The donor was "of New Jersey."
Notes:
The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots. It was first scientifically described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758.
The Museum received another marmot from Mr. Johnson of New Jersey, perhaps the same donor, in 1792. Dunlap's American Daily Advertiser (Philadelphia), 23 Jan 1792.
Peale's Common Name:
Monack
Current Common Name:
Groundhog
Current Scientific Name
Marmota monax
