Art Smalley, age 10, of Visalia, Calif., for his question:

DOES THE GROUNDHOG LIVE IN CALIFORNIA?

There is nothing hoggish about this lazy character. So let's use this other name and call him the woodchuck. And while on the subject of names, we might call him a marmot. In this case, we would have to include his larger, lazier cousin, the whistling marmot. And this first cousin of the woodchuck marmot is at home in the highlands of California.

The marmots are big, fat ground squirrels, and the family includes the rockchuck, alias the whistler, and the woodchuck, alias the groundhog. The woodchuck enjoys a lazy life in woodsy meadows throughout the central and eastern zones of North America. The rock chuck is at home high in the Rockies, from Alaska through California to New Mexico.

Strictly speaking, the groundhog woodchuck is not a native Californian.  But if we had to choose, most likely we would rather have our Western whistler. He is a larger, prettier and a somewhat more peaceable character. The Eastern woodchuck is a shaggy brownish animal, measuring about 27 inches and weighing up to 10 pounds. He lives a rather solitary life; and though his diet is mostly plant food, it includes insects, birds and small rodents.

Our native Western marmot wears a fluffy coat of pale grayish brown, frosted with white hairs. Some people call him the hoary or frosted marmot. He measures about 20 inches, including a fluffy seven inch tail, and may reach a weight of 14 pounds. He has white cheeks, black eye patches, a little black nose and a white tummy.

The Western marmot is a strict vegetarian, so he never preys on other animals. What's more, he is a sociable character who shares life with a sizable colony of friends and relatives. They live in rocky burrows, where they sleep through summer nights and hibernate through the long, cold winters.

Now to explain why our rock chuck, alias the hoary marmot, is called the whistler. The relatives never stray far from their burrows. As they squat on their fat haunches, using their clever hands to hold their food, a few old timers scan the distance with farseeing eyes. When trouble approaches, they utter a shrill whistle that can be heard a mile away. The munching marmots hear the alarm signal and scuttle to their safe burrows among the rocks.