How big do groundhogs get?

Groundhogs are quite bizarre creatures. They've had more than a few names of the course of their history, and a few of the other names you may have heard the creature called by, are whistle pig and woodchuck. Despite looking a little bit like a beaver crossed with a squirrel, the groundhog is actually a rodent, related to rats and mice. Or, if you want to get really specific about things, you could call them a type of “giant ground squirrel”.



You will find these animals almost everywhere across North America, and they have even been spotted in Alaska, clearly showing that they don't have an aversion to the cold temperatures. You will mostly find them in central Alaska, across the entirety of Canada, and then heading down, into states such as Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana and Alabama.

If you're measuring the animal from rump to head, the groundhog would measure in between 17 to 25 inches. The tails would measure in the same again. If you were to pop them on the scales, they would top them at about 13 pounds.

These creatures are great diggers, and the have really thick claws, curved over to give them a hand. The tails are shorter on groundhogs than they are on other squirrels (only about 1/4 of its body length, rather than equal amounts tail - body), but as the name suggests, this is an animal that lives on the ground.