Would Punxsutawney Phil make a good pet?
No, Phil and his relatives would not make good pets. They are wild animals. In most states, it is illegal to capture any native wild animals and keep them as pets. Groundhogs can be very interesting “neighbors.” We had a family of them when we lived on a horse farm in NJ. Let me stress that they were NOT pets – they were wild animals that lived on our property and became accustomed to us. We never touched them, but we did put food our for them. They loved apples, yams, cauliflower, broccoli and corn on the cob. Often, they would “join us” for a barbecue – they would chomp away at their pile of food just feet away from our big wooden picnic table, where we were having our dinner. They never became agressive toward us, mainly because we respected them (as we did all our wild “neighbors”) and did not attempt to pet them, pick them up, or even approach them too closely. They were wild animals and we enjoyed the opportunity to observe them, but that was all. When strangers were around, they
