Groundhog Mortality

The guy who mows this field put a traffic cone up so he knew where the groundhog hole was when mowing. The groundhog has incorporated it into his main den entrance.

This fellow looks to have a spot of mange on his face. I’m not giving him great odds on surviving the winter, but that’s groundhog mortality. They rarely live beyond three or four years, whelp 3-5 young every year, and either perish from predation (often while pups), mange, cancer, internal parasites, or fail to emerge in spring due to lung congestion issues.