Groundhog - Human Relevance

Human Relevance

Groundhogs raised in captivity can be socialized relatively easily; however, their aggressive nature can pose problems. Doug Schwartz, a zookeeper and groundhog trainer at the Staten Island Zoo, has been quoted as saying "They’re known for their aggression, so you’re starting from a hard place. natural impulse is to kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out. You have to work to produce the sweet and cuddly."

In the United States and Canada, the yearly Groundhog Day celebration has given the groundhog recognition and popularity, as has the movie of the same name. The most popularly known of these groundhogs are Wiarton Willie and Punxsutawney Phil, well kept as part of Groundhog Day festivities in Wiarton, Ontario and Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, respectively. A famous southern groundhog, General Beauregard Lee, is based at the Yellow River Game Ranch outside Atlanta, Georgia.

Woodchucks are used in medical research on hepatitis B-induced liver cancer. When infected with woodchuck hepatitis B virus, they are at 100% risk for developing liver cancer, making them a good model for testing hepatitis B and liver cancer therapies.

Groundhog burrows have been known to reveal at least one archaeological site, the Ufferman Site in the U.S. state of Ohio. Although archaeologists have never excavated the Ufferman Site, numerous artifacts have been found because of the activities of local groundhogs. They favor the loose soil of the esker upon which the site lies, and their many diggings for their burrows have brought to the surface significant numbers of human and animal bones, pottery, and bits of stone.