Reading and vocabulary. Groundhog: Burrow Mania!

The groundhog—also known as a woodchuck—spends much of its days alone, foraging for plants and grasses and digging burrows up to 66 feet (20 meters) long.

Phil the groundhog is a star! Well, at least on February 2 he is. Phil lives in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where every Groundhog Day people wait for him to come out of his burrow. Legend has it that if Phil sees his shadow, six more weeks of winter will follow.

Phil might be a celebrity once a year, but the rest of the time he probably prefers his me-time. After all, the word monax in the groundhog’s scientific name means “solitary.”

Groundhogs often        under open areas such as meadows and           , which can make the critter a real          to farmers. Groundhogs         crops and create       in the soil, which can damage tractors and injure livestock. (People aren't the only ones who trip—cows can stumble too!)

But burrows are super-important to groundhogs. They're where the rodents sleep, raise their babies, and even poop. (They actually have separate           !) Burrows also provide            from predators such as coyotes, hawks, and black bears. And it's not just the groundhog that uses its burrow—         such as rabbits, chipmunks, and snakes move in once a groundhog has moved out.

Farmers get a        [break, breaks] from pesky groundhogs come winter when the rodents enter their         [burrow, burrows] to hibernate. In the spring, females give birth in their      [den, dens] to about three to five      [pup, pups]. But they don't hang out for long. By around two months old, they’re off on their own—whether they see their         [shadow, shadows] or not.