Whistle pig

[junkie]

WhistlePig, is a nickname for a ground squirrel in Southern Idaho. It’s official name is Townsend Ground Squirrel, Spermophilus townsendii. These ground squirrels communicate by emitting a faint, high-pitched whistle while partially underground … hence the name WhistlePig
WhistlePig GunBarrel Co.


A WhistlePig's habitat is primarily arid desert burrowing in grassland hills and sagebrush. Each adult digs two burrows—a small one in the feeding area, evidently used as an escape hatch if predators approach, and a much bigger home burrow that is at least 50 feet (15 m) long and up to 6 feet (2 m) deep. During the spring-time of the year when the young are abroad and half-grown, they tend to be active, scurrying about between their auxiliary burrows and feeding on green plants. The adults are also known to be carnivorous, eating their young and road kills. One litter is produced per year, with 6 to 10 pups per litter. To a rancher with livestock or horses, the borrows can cause serious injury. Sportsmen have been encouraged to eradicate them.


I am one who helps in the eradication. Don't think this is an easy task these suckers are fast.

[colt45]

AROUND HERE WE CALL A WHISTLE PIG A WOOD CHUCK, OR GROUND HOG.

[Bookman]

Same here. A whistle pig is a groundhog. Must be a Northeast expression.

[colt45]

otherwise know as targets, coyote food, crow bait, and turkey buzerd chow.
the farmers call them names i can't repeat here.

[DJ AWOL]

so where is the best location for some whistle piggin? anywhere near kuna?

[billy]

what we call a whistle pig here in colorado are also called rockchucks.
they mostly live above treeline (around 10,000 feet and up)
and are fat,slow moving animals that look kind of like a porcupine but with hair instead of quills.

[billy]

wikipedia

Marmots are generally large ground squirrels. Those most often referred to as marmots tend to live in mountainous areas such as the Alps, Carpathians, Tatra, and Pyrenees in Europe, the Rockies and the Sierra Nevada in the United States, and Northern Canada. However, the groundhog is also properly called a marmot, while the similarly-sized but more social prairie dog is not classified in the genus Marmota but in the related genus Cynomys.
Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter. Most marmots are highly social, and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed.

[billy]

i was wondering why someone would want to shoot a marmot.
they are harmless.

if these messed up pasture instead of living way the heck up in the mountains it would be different!

[elmer fudd]

they live all sorts of places like deer they live up by me where its pretty cold and they live down in arkansaw where its realy hot and those things if you drive up the mountian a little ways then park it and walk the rest of the way they will eat the tubes off the bottom of your car rabbits will do this sometimes to

[tippmann7]

Originally Posted by junkie

I am one who helps in the eradication. Don't think this is an easy task these suckers are fast.

we call them chucks in ohio, groundhog is common to. but these are not fast lol, they are prolly the easiest kill you can get.....if they dont see you first that is

[SwedeSteve]

While I don't have a problem with it, I usually don't shoot anything I won't eat.

[petemi]

Steve, that's exactly why I don't hunt waterfowl. I do hunt varmints and eat a few of them too. Porcupine is excellent if you know what to do with it.

[sell33]

Originally Posted by tippmann7

we call them chucks in ohio, groundhog is common to. but these are not fast lol, they are prolly the easiest kill you can get.....if they dont see you first that is

Not fast??????? what the hell have i been shooting then?? lol well i guess if they don't see you they aren't fast. as soon as they realize you are there and what you are they haul ass. very fast. lol. i think they are more stupid than fast. once they realize human tho they are gone.

[Pyro01]

I've always called em' prairie dogs. There were huge fields of these things in the area I lived in when I used to live in Kansas. Maybe they're the same thing as ground squirrels and I just don't usually hear people call em that.

[SouthernBlood]

here in nebraska we call them prairie dogs and you cant swing a dead cat without hittin one....sure are fun blastin them off the hillsides with my savage .223

[DWFan]

Since they rely on vision that fixes on movement to locate a predator, (the whistle simply alerts others that a predator is around), they are excellent practice for a handgun hunter that is interested in stalking deer.

[toolman]

We have ground squirrels here that are about 8"-11" long and about 2" wide (big one). These little suckers are faster than light and will destroy a lawn in a heartbeat. To shoot them, you have to get on the ground or up high and snipe them. They have really good eyesight and hearing, so stillness and patience are an absolute neccesity.

[Gopher3604x4]

Thay have coused many a broken leggs for horses and cattle.

[SwedeSteve]

I guess if they destroy pasture and endanger your livestock, there is some call for thinning them out !! The ones that live above treeline, like our marmots pose no such problems.

[DocktorTchock]

What time of year do they come out? I havent seen any in awile, and the roads where I usually go arent covered with flatened ground squirrels.. I thought with the cooler fall weather they would be out, but no luck