Spotting wild animals can already be tricky, depending on what you’re looking for, but one young man never has to look for long to find a hungry groundhog. He lives near a family of groundhogs who’ve gotten used to sharing space with people, and after being fed by so many, the current residents are extremely comfortable asking for food. On October 27, the man couldn’t resist any longer!
An imprortant note: Please don’t feed animals you don’t know. Giving wild animals people food can make them seriously ill, and others’ pets may have allergies or be on specific diets. While I don’t recommend following in @germy_ballswole’s footsteps, I can appreciate the trusting bond he shares with the groundhog—especially when he brings along a treat.
First of all, I had no idea that groundhogs were so big! I would have been a bit startled to see such a large rodent headed straight for me, but I suppose it’s different for this young man, who was calling the groundhog, not vice versa.
Naturally, several commenters had similar concerns about feeding the wildlife human food, though it’s truly not possible to tell what he’s handing the critter in the video. My best guess is apple!
He explained to one viewer, “I’m not the first person to feed him. This family of groundhogs has been fed like this for generations. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”
When another viewer claimed the cute critter wouldn’t leave him alone because he fed it, he replied, “no, not because I fed it. Because other people have been feeding him, his father and two siblings here for years.”
imageBROKER/David & Micha Sheldon / Getty Images
Even if hes met this exact groundhog before, it’s imporessive that the animal will come all the way up to the car to ask for a snack. The sound of his litle nails on the doorframe made me smile, but I hope he and his family are always safe around cars!
Groundhogs v. Marmots: What’s the Difference?
There are so many species of rodent and ground squirrel native to North America that it can be tricky to tell the difference between them all. Once I read comments that used the terms ‘groundhog’ and ‘marmot‘ interchangibly, I knew I needed to learn more.
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Technically speaking, a groundhog is a type of marmot, but not all marmots are groundhogs. Some think of groundhogs as the local, ‘suburban’ cousin of the marmot, because groundhogs are native exclusively to North America and are equally likely to be spotted in someone’s front yard than up in the mountans.
So, yes, the adorable animal in this video is both a marmot and a groundhog. It’s unusual (and honeslty, not ideal) for him to be so accustomed to humans and to rely on people for his diet, but I’m glad to see that generations of groundhogs have been thriving in that area so far.
This story was originally published by PetHelpful on Oct 30, 2026, where it first appeared in the Pet News section. Add PetHelpful as a Preferred Source by clicking here.