NOT REALLY A FLOWER

I know it's Flower Friday.....but I'm Blipping this shot instead. What is it?
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This rodent from the Family Sciuridae is locally known as a Woodchuck. In other world's he is known as a Groundhog. In scientific circles he is Marmota monax.
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He was at Road America today just past Turn Two and was intent on having a late lunch of grasses and various weeds. He was so focused on his task that I was able to walk to within 10 feet of him (3 meters or so) before he noticed me.
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They can move surprisingly quickly when disturbed...a skill which has life saving benefit as hawks and foxes love to dine on woodchuck. A good meal for sure.....they grow to around 16 inches (40+cm) not including the tail and can weigh around 8 to 9 pounds (3.5-4.0kg).  
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They can be aggressive, dig BIG holes all over their territory to provide quick and abundant escape routes, can be real pests in your garden if they take a liking to your hostas and they're hard to get rid of.
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They are abundant and of least concern. They are also reputed to be able to predict the length of winter in northern climes. They are true hibernators and when awakened in the early Spring, it's said that if he sees his shadow there will be 6 more weeks of winter.  Personal experience with this reputation leads me to believe that woodchucks are about as reliable as my weatherman......and he lies to me all the time.  One winter past, I recall shoveling 6 inches of "partly cloudy" as predicted by my weatherman.
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Best viewed in Large.
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BTW....I should have mentioned that there's a large poured concrete wall between this particular groundhog and the racing surface of the track. Cars can be as dangerous to the health of a groundhog as a fox or hawk...but this one is in no particular danger from race cars. The same is not true in other parts of the track.  The corner workers call them "organic debris."

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