Also known as woodchucks, groundhogs are rodent creatures commonly found across Eastern USA, Alaska, and Canada. Groundhogs can be a significant threat as they can damage your crops and your house by digging underneath, and it is essential to control these creatures’ populations. But are groundhogs blind?
No, groundhogs see. However, research shows that baby groundhogs below three months are deaf and blind. Young groundhogs gain vision at three months and later leave their parents by digging their holes.
This post is a detailed guide to everything you need to know about groundhogs’ eyesight and other aspects. Read on!
Contents
Are Groundhogs Color Blind?
No, groundhogs can easily see and differentiate various colors. Amazingly, these rodents have unique favorite colors. Some research shows that groundhogs mostly like dark colors more than bright colors.
Therefore, groundhogs will be more attracted to you if you wear dark linen of various colors, such as black, purple, and dark blue. Thus, researchers recommend groundhog hunters wear lighter-shaded clothes when chasing them.
Do Groundhogs Have Good Eyesight?
Yes, groundhogs have extraordinary eyesight. These creatures can see up to 229 to 275 meters away. This helps them identify their threat with ease and take the appropriate action to avoid it.
Some hunters have discovered that groundhogs can spot vehicles at a distance of 275 meters from their location. This excellent eyesight enables them to spot and hide from their predators, which include eagles, coyotes, dogs, and humans.
Are Baby Groundhogs Blind?
Yes, newborn baby groundhogs are blind. These creatures start seeing after two months but rarely move outside the hole until they are 6 to 7 weeks old. Baby groundhogs are about twenty inches and weigh four pounds at three months.
Groundhogs mainly give birth between April and May, and the male leaves the den. These creatures give birth once annually and produce a litter of 2 to 6 hairless and naked young ones. Baby groundhogs wean and start looking for food outside the den at 5 to 6 weeks of age.
At three months, baby groundhogs start seeing and leaving their parents’ den to dig their own homes. These creatures are generally strong at this age and can burrow large holes 6 feet in depth and 20 feet in width. Typically, groundhogs burrow holes in the wood during winter and in grassy areas during warmer months.
Can Groundhogs See at Night?
No, although groundhogs have superb eyesight during the day, these creatures have a horrible vision at night. This makes them classified as diurnal animals.
You will rarely see groundhogs moving in the night. These rodents primarily work and eat during the day and sleep at night. Also, like other diurnal animals, you can spot groundhogs during the day.
Can Groundhogs See Colors?
Yes, groundhogs see various colors and are attracted to specific ones. Researchers have discovered that groundhogs are mainly attracted to dark colors such as purple, black, and purple. In contrast, groundhogs are unattracted by lighter colors such as white, green, red, and blue.
The ability of animals to differentiate various colors is determined by a similar mechanism depending on different biological molecules and has a detailed historical development in taxi drivers. Primates develop a color vision on selecting specific diets such as grapefruits and flowers. However, groundhogs are less likely to develop color eyesight on a particular diet.
In a nutshell, color vision is the ability of animals to differentiate various lights at various wavelengths. However, groundhogs need this ability as they don’t recognize colors.
How Long Groundhog Can Be Seen?
Groundhogs prefer staying in hiding from fall to summer. Typically, although groundhogs are mainly active during the day, you will see them only for two hours per day. These two hours are in the early morning and the beginning of the evening hours.
Groundhogs are diurnal animals, implying that they are more active during the day than at night throughout the year. However, these creatures are hibernators.
During hibernation, groundhogs drop their body temperatures from 99℉ to 37℉. Also, their heart rate drops from 80 beats per minute to 5 seconds per minute, and their breathing also drops from 16 breathes per minute to barely 2.
Groundhogs hibernate for 150 days. They stay for the entire hibernation duration without eating and lose more than a quarter of their body weight. This becomes possible due to the energy saved by their low metabolism.
Therefore, this implies that although you can see groundhogs two hours per day, you will not see them during hibernation. Thus, you are more likely to see groundhogs for half a year during their active hours.
Do Groundhogs Have Good Hearing?
Similar to their incredible vision, groundhogs have a perfect sense of hearing. This allows them to sense approaching danger and get enough time to secure a hiding place.
The groundhogs’ hearing ability allows them to detect their enemy’s movement in the surrounding. They hear traffic, cars, humans, and other wildlife who find them easy to prey on.
Using their impeccable hearing ability, groundhogs can identify whether they are in a dangerous situation, and if they are, they have enough time to secure a perfect hiding place.
Can Groundhogs See in the Dark?
No, groundhogs have compromising eyesight at night. These rodents’ vision is impeccable during the day than at night. However, they leave their clitter in the early morning and evening hours.
Generally, while most people perceive that they can see groundhogs in the dark due to their reduced vision in dark hours, these creatures leave their holes in the early morning.
Groundhogs are diurnal creatures with poor vision at night and you can see them early morning as they dig to escape dangerous situations.
Are Groundhogs Good Pets?
Groundhogs don’t make good pets as they chew and dig anything across their way. Chances are that they find a way out of their cage and escape. Thus, it is advisable not to keep groundhogs even if you know they are orphaned.
Groundhogs have sturdy lower and upper incisors that grow 0.16 inches each week. They highly love gnawing at anything across their path. Also, if you try petting a groundhog in a cage, it will eventually manage to escape.
It is also demanding to keep a baby groundhog as it requires unique skills to manage. Similarly, pet groundhogs can escape their cage and destroy your lovely flower beds, gardens, and vegetables.
Can You Befriend a Groundhog?
Yes, you as well befriend a groundhog as you befriend other wild rodents. The best way to manage this is by supplying them with food. You need to place a bowl with roots, veggies, and nuts close to your house and wait for the animal to come and eat.
Later, you need to move close to the food bowl. After a while, it will be easy to feed the groundhog using your hand.
Wrapping Up
Groundhogs have impeccable vision during the day. However, these creatures will rarely see at night. This makes them more active during the day than at night.
Groundhogs are practically diurnal animals due to their unique active characteristics during the day than at night. However, you can see these creatures for two hours daily (early morning and early evening). Also, groundhogs hibernate for 150 days, and you will not see them during this time.
We hope this post has helped you to understand the science behind the groundhog’s vision and hearing ability. You can now choose the perfect time and approach to hunting these creatures.
