July 15, 1982 - Sentinel of the HillsideJuly 15, 1982 19be NeW-Rebieb)
Sentinel of the Hillside
Few of us here on Long Island realize
that the ground hog or woodchuck was
once common to our fields. I was reminded
again of this rodent's presence last week
when I had occasion to travel west on the
Long Island Expressway. Just outside of
Calverton on the grassy banks of this busy
highway there he was sitting outside his
burrow like a little monarch surveying his
kingdom.
Anyone familiar with the rolling fields of
upstate and New England are well
acquainted with this sentinel of the
hillside. There he is common and in some
areas a downright nuisance to the farmer.
He has a ferocious appetite for field crops
and does damage to hay fields that
farmers cannot overlook. This, added to
the mounds of soil and deep burrows, has
not made him fare well with the farmer.
Years ago I remember seeing this
digger along the farms in Riverhead
where there was still some woodland and
hedgerows along the edges. This backdrop
serves the woodchuck well, for it is here he
can scamper about amongst the
underbrush that protects him. The
burrows are sometimes 40 feet long, with a
nesting spot lined with grass at the end.
Early spring the woodchuck gives birth
to five or six blind young that soon can be
seen frolicking at the entrance of the
burrows. At the slightest sign of danger,
the parent utters a shrill whistle and they
immediately disappear below.
The fur is coarse and the flesh poor.
Therefore not in demand by man. Plowed
fields and a lack of hedgerows has just
about done away with this animal around
our farm communities. It surely was nice
to see the mounds of dirt along the
highway giving evidence that they were
still surviving and well. It was the ideal
spot -- grassy slopes and a woodland
background for protection and foraging.
A Change of Seasons
As the season's move on and coolness of
fall takes over, the woodchuck starts to
slow down. His heavy coat of fat has been
building up all summer so that by late fall
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he literally waddles in stored energy.
When the real cold of winter comes, he'll
retreat down the long burrow to his dry
nest and there he will hibernate
throughout the winter. Curled up in a tight
ball, his respiration will almost stop and
his body temperature will drop to a low 40
degrees. In this state of suspended
animation, he'll sleep the winter out, only
to be revived as the sun moves north and
warms the earth.
In 1883 in New Hampshire, the
woodchuck had made such a nuisance of
himself that a bounty of 10 cents was paid
for him — "provided that no bounty shall be
paid for any woodchuck killed on Sunday ".
I'm sure if I were a farmer whose fields
were riddled with woodchuck dens and my
crops eaten I, too, would look down on this
rascal. Yet they are part of our natural
world and there should be a place
preserved for them. Many feel when a
plant or animal has no use to man it should
be discarded or done away with, yet more
and more of us see this picture differently.
Each insect, each plant, each fish, each
animal, each living thing makes up the
web of life that we are part of. And it is this
web of life that we must preserve, for
without it and its complicated
interworkings the world that you and I
know shall soon crumble about us.
Aleady we see many signs of this
crumbling. Man's air, water and land have
become polluted. Is the system breaking
down? Without the web of life that includes
all things, we very well might be in deep
trouble.
PAULSTOUTENBURGH
County Gets Folk Arts Grant
WEST SAYVILLE — Suffolk County has
received a $20,000 grant from the National
Endowment for the Arts to study the folk
arts and crafts associated with the farm-
ing industry. County Executive Peter F.
Cohalan, in announcing the grant, said,
"Our farmland and farm culture are a
precious resource and, taken with our
maritime traditions, form the basis of
Suffolk's unique life - style. It is appropriate
that these customs be studied and docu-
mented." The county, with financing from
the Endowment, sponsored a similar study
of maritime folk -life last year.
The farm, folk arts folklorist, John
Eilertsen, will be in residence in Eastern
Suffolk throughout the summer and fall.
An extensive tape and photo collection will
be amassed as Mr. Eilertsen interviews
local families. Several of these families
have farmed in Suffolk for 13 generations.
A brochure incorporating photos, lore
and profiles of folk artists will be published
for distribution during the two days -of
public presentations planned to coincide
with the annual Riverhead Fair. There will
be demonstrations of needlework, quilt
making, furniture making and carving,
blacksmithing, cooking and preserving.
Also scheduled for the Riverhead events
on Oct. 9 and 10 are special exhibits and
the telling of folk tales.
The Farm Folk Arts project is a
cooperative venture of the County, the
Riverhead Fair Committee, Hallockville
(the East End's "living" farm museum),
and the East End Arts and Humanities
Council. The project is being administered
through the Suffolk County Office of
Cultural Affairs.
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Page 11
WOODCHUCK OR GROUND HOG - -This digger of burrows has almost
disappeared from Long Island. Yet the sharp eye can still see his dirt
mound or occasionally even him along the road banks of the Long Island
Expressway in Calverton. Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
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