It is hard to guess what a Groundhog weights. But we have the answer:
An adult Groundhog (Marmota monax) on average weights 3.88 kg (8.55 lbs).
The Groundhog is from the family Sciuridae (genus: Marmota). It is usually born with about 27 grams (0.06 lbs). They can live for up to 10 years. When reaching adult age, they grow up to 41.4 cm (1′ 5″). On average, Groundhogs can have babies 1 times per year with a litter size of 4.
As a reference: An average human weights in at 62 kg (137 lbs) and reaches an average size of 1.65m (5′ 5″). Humans spend 280 days (40 weeks) in the womb of their mother and reach around 75 years of age.
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 groundhog is also referred to as a chuck, wood-shock, groundpig, whistlepig, whistler, thickwood badger, Canada marmot, monax, moonack, weenusk, red monk and, among French Canadians in eastern Canada, siffleux.The name “thickwood badger” was given in the Northwest to distinguish the animal from the prairie badger. Monax (Móonack) is an Algonquian name of the woodchuck, which meant “digger” (cf. Lenape monachgeu). Young groundhogs may be called chucklings.Other marmots, such as the yellow-bellied and hoary marmots, live in rocky and mountainous areas, but the groundhog is a lowland creature. It is found through much of the eastern United States across Canada and into Alaska.
Animals of the same family as a Groundhog
We found other animals of the Sciuridae family:
- Least pygmy squirrel with a weight of 21 grams
- Small sun squirrel with a weight of 174 grams
- Durango chipmunk with a weight of 85 grams
- Northern palm squirrel with a weight of 102 grams
- Mindanao squirrel with a size of 21 cm (0′ 9″)
- Panamint chipmunk with a weight of 51 grams
- Epixerus with a weight of 559 grams
- Palawan flying squirrel with a size of 22 cm (0′ 9″)
- Ruwenzori sun squirrel with a weight of 291 grams
- Black-striped squirrel with a weight of 209 grams
Animals with the same weight as a Groundhog
As a comparison, here are some other animals that weight as much as the Marmota monax:
- Black-flanked rock-wallaby with a weight of 4.57 kilos (10.08 lbs)
- Otter civet with a weight of 4.25 kilos (9.37 lbs)
- Masked palm civet with a weight of 4.3 kilos (9.48 lbs)
- Bald uakari with a weight of 3.42 kilos (7.54 lbs)
- European hare with a weight of 3.82 kilos (8.42 lbs)
- Western tree hyrax with a weight of 3.18 kilos (7.01 lbs)
- Antelope jackrabbit with a weight of 3.93 kilos (8.66 lbs)
- Verreaux’s sifaka with a weight of 3.61 kilos (7.96 lbs)
- Mona monkey with a weight of 3.98 kilos (8.77 lbs)
- Bat-eared fox with a weight of 4.07 kilos (8.97 lbs)
Animals with the same size as a Groundhog
Not that size really matters, but it makes things comparable. So here are a couple of animals that are as big as Groundhog:
- Alpine woolly rat with a size of 44.2 cm (1′ 6″)
- White-sided jackrabbit with a size of 48.8 cm (1′ 8″)
- Black-headed spider monkey with a size of 48.9 cm (1′ 8″)
- European pine marten with a size of 45.7 cm (1′ 6″)
- American marten with a size of 38.2 cm (1′ 4″)
- Common spotted cuscus with a size of 45.8 cm (1′ 7″)
- Jamaican coney with a size of 37.8 cm (1′ 3″)
- Ground cuscus with a size of 45.4 cm (1′ 6″)
- Telefomin cuscus with a size of 39.9 cm (1′ 4″)
- Diana monkey with a size of 47 cm (1′ 7″)
Animals with the same litter size as a Groundhog
Here is a list of animals that have the same number of babies per litter (4) as a Groundhog:
- Madras treeshrew
- Camas pocket gopher
- Side-striped jackal
- Oligoryzomys longicaudatus
- Lesser short-tailed gerbil
- Panamint chipmunk
- White-footed mouse
- Eastern cottontail
- Hazel dormouse
- Tien Shan birch mouse
Animals with the same life expectancy as a Groundhog
Completely different animals, but becoming as old as a Groundhog:
- Dice’s cottontail with an average maximal age of 9 years
- Common spotted cuscus with an average maximal age of 11 years
- Golden hamster with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Water deer with an average maximal age of 12 years
- Black duiker with an average maximal age of 10.17 years
- Long-tailed porcupine with an average maximal age of 10.08 years
- Mindanao treeshrew with an average maximal age of 11.5 years
- Fischer’s pygmy fruit bat with an average maximal age of 10 years
- Lesser short-nosed fruit bat with an average maximal age of 8 years
- Gray dorcopsis with an average maximal age of 8 years