Groundhog records in Mississippi cluster in the state’s northern hill country, the rolling pasture and hardwood edges of the North Central Hills and Loess Bluffs, where the soil drains well enough for a burrow to stay dry. Records thin out toward the flat Mississippi Delta and the Gulf Coast, where high water tables and heavy clay don’t suit a digging animal.
A groundhog spends its days grazing on clover, grass, and garden plants near a burrow entrance, then disappears underground the moment something startles it. Its tunnel systems run to multiple entrances hidden along fence lines, brush piles, and field edges, and the animal holes up there through the coldest months of winter.
Mississippi has logged just 47 groundhog records so far, landing it in the occasional-record group among the state’s mapped mammals. Sightings show up in most months with a small uptick in spring, though a thin record count says more about how often people report groundhogs here than about how many actually live in the state.
