For example, a groundhog living near a farm may be more active in the late morning. However, their habitats and locations dictate their sleeping and foraging periods. They prefer being alone dusk and dawn are generally the quietest times of the day. Avoidance of predators makes it safer to forage and hunt during these hours.Īn additional reason for this conduct is that groundhogs are solitary animals. This dynamic behavior is likely due to most of their predators being less active during these times. Groundhogs are usually active at dawn and dusk as the sun rises and sets. The amount of time groundhogs sleep is between 16 and 20 hours a day, which is mostly at night but depends on their environmental factors. Groundhogs are crepuscular, not nocturnal, but this may change for specific reasons.
So, while groundhogs are busy in the daytime, they confine their activities to the start and end of the day. Crepuscular activity means being primarily active at dusk and dawn.
To clarify, being diurnal means being active during daylight hours. Groundhogs are typically less active during the summer and stay in their burrows to escape the heat. This busy period means that the temperature and food sources available influence their activity and sleep behavior. Considering the seasons, groundhogs are more active from spring to fall as the temperatures are warmer. Groundhogs sleep at night, waking to engage in their foraging activities around dusk and dawn. Groundhogs Are Not Nocturnal or Diurnal but Crepuscular Groundhogs are crepuscular, as they are primarily active at dusk and dawn. So, are groundhogs nocturnal or diurnal? This question is the first place to start when protecting your precious garden from groundhogs. If you have a garden and want to prevent groundhogs from destroying it, it would help if you understood their sleep behavior. These rodents are often viewed as pests as they love treating people’s gardens as their personal pantries. The groundhog's body temperature drops from 98 degrees Fahrenheit, to as low as 38 degrees Fahrenheit, and it's heart rate slows from 80 beats a minute to as few as 4 beats a minute.Groundhogs live in the central-eastern and the northeastern United States and Canada. It retreats to it's burrow in late fall and goes into a deep sleep during which it will not eat. The groundhog is one of the few animals that enter a state of true hibernation. Even baby groundhogs leave their mothers rather quickly to find their own space, setting off at the tender age of 5 or 6 weeks.Įven though they live alone, groundhogs will use a shrill, whistle-like warning call, which gives them the common name whistlepig, and alerts all the groundhogs in the area of any danger, such as a low-flying hawk. They defend their burrows and territories from other groundhogs in loud squabbles which include hopping about, swishing their tails and chattering their teeth. While most marmots live in small family groups, the groundhog is a loner, and even a bit aniti-social. One of the things that distinguishes groundhogs from other marmots is that they are generally solitary animals.
They spend lots of time mending and expanding their settes, and eating a variety of vegetation, supplemented by insects, snails and grubs.
Groundhogs are active during the day, and feed mostly in the early morning and late afternoon.
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