Lunar Sidereal and Synodic Periods. The Moon's sidereal orbital period (the sidereal month) is ~27.3 days; this is the time interval that the Moon takes to orbit 360Â° around the Earth relative to the fixed stars. The period of the lunar phases (the synodic month), e.g. the full moon to full moon period, is longer at ~29.5 days.
While there are several species of marmots in North America, our woodchuck is found mostly in the eastern United States and across much of southern Canada. In New England, woodchucks inhabit both urban and suburban yards, fields, meadows, woodland clearings, and we see them frequently in grassy areas along highways.
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 (often within rockpiles, particularly in the case of the yellow-bellied marmot), and hibernate there through the winter. Most marmots are highly social and use loud whistles to communicate with one another, especially when alarmed. Marmots mainly eat greens and many types of grasses, berries, lichens, mosses, roots, and flowers.