# 49 The Groundhog

Everyone has heard of Groundhog Day. It is a minor American holiday. German and British settlers introduced it. Here is what they believed.

They thought that the groundhog awakens from its winter's sleep on February 2. The groundhog comes out of its hole. If the sun is shining, it will see its shadow. The shadow scares it. So it runs back into its hole. This means six more weeks of winter. If the day is cloudy, it will not see its shadow. Since it is not scared, it stays out of its hole. This means that spring will soon come. These are the same things we say on Groundhog Day today.

Groundhogs are strange animals. They are known mainly to country people. City people just don't know how to look for them. To the urban eye, a groundhog sitting stiffly by its hole may look like a foot. It could also be seen as a clod of turf. Or it may look like a broken fence-post. But a farmer may see groundhogs anywhere he looks. They'll be watching like sentinels.

The groundhog is a native American. It is found in most states east of the Rockies. It may also appear as far north as Alaska. It is hated by farmers. The groundhog eats a third of its weight in a day. What an enormous appetite! It may eat about a half-ton of alfalfa in a summer. So 10 chucks in a big field would eat five tons.

Why do groundhogs eat so much? To prepare for winter. In the fall, when food is plentiful, they fill up. This extra food is changed to fat. This fat is what they live on during their long winter's sleep.

# 49 土撥鼠

每個人都聽說過土撥鼠日。這是一個美國的小節日。德國和英國移民引入了它。以下是他們所相信的。

他們認為土撥鼠在2月2日從冬眠中醒來。土撥鼠從洞裡出來。如果陽光明媚，牠會看到自己的影子。影子嚇到了牠。所以牠跑回洞裡。這意味著冬天還要再持續六週。如果那天是多雲天，牠就看不到影子。既然牠不害怕，就會待在洞外。這意味著春天即將來臨。這些就是我們今天在土撥鼠日所說的同樣內容。

土撥鼠是奇怪的動物。主要只有鄉下人才認識牠們。城市人根本不知道如何尋找牠們。在城市人眼中，一隻僵硬地坐在洞旁的土撥鼠可能看起來像一隻腳。也可能被看作是一塊草皮。或者它可能看起來像一根斷掉的籬笆柱。但農夫可能在他看到的任何地方都發現土撥鼠。牠們會像哨兵一樣注視著。

土撥鼠是美洲原產動物。在落磯山脈以東的大部分州都有發現。牠也可能出現在北至阿拉斯加的地方。牠被農夫們憎恨。土撥鼠一天能吃下自己體重三分之一的食物。胃口真大！牠一個夏天可能吃掉大約半噸的苜蓿。所以十隻土撥鼠在大田裡會吃掉五噸。

為什麼土撥鼠吃這麼多？是為了準備過冬。在秋天，當食物充足時，牠們會吃飽。這些多餘的食物轉化為脂肪。這些脂肪是牠們在漫長冬眠期間賴以生存的東西。