# Woodchuck

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Groundhog

r woodchuck 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d6

r woodchuck 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Bite 1d6

Base level

3

Base experience

35

Speed

3

Base AC

0

Base MR

20

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

30

Nutritional value

30

Size

Small

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A woodchuck:

 can swim.

 can tunnel through walls.

 has no hands.

 is an animal.

 is herbivorous.

 is normally generated hostile.

 wanders randomly.

 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c, line 833

The woodchuck is an extremely rare creature. Other than humor, it serves no special purpose, apart from being a pain to extinctionists. It can swim.
The woodchuck's stats appear almost identical to those of the rock mole, which precedes it in the monster list. The only differences, besides the generation frequency and the glyph color, are its diet, ability to swim and tendency to wander. Note that both the woodchuck and the rock mole are tunnelers and as such can chop down trees and tunnel through rock walls.

Contents

1 Generation
2 Origin
3 Variants

3.1 Grudge patch
3.2 SLASH'EM

4 Encyclopedia entry

Generation
It is not normally generated, and usually must be explicitly created by means of a figurine, stone to fleshing a statue, reverse genocide, or polymorph.
The only way you may ever see a woodchuck in your game without intentionally generating one (e.g. using reverse genocide) is if a monster is polymorphed. Additionally, a chameleon or other shapeshifting creature may assume the form of a woodchuck.

Origin
Its inclusion is a joke, to do with the Oracle and "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?". The joke is a reference to the real life Usenet Oracle. The internet has the entire text of Oracularity 576-06.

Variants
Grudge patch
In some variants, including UnNetHack and xNetHack, woodchucks attack the Oracle on sight as part of the grudge patch. In UnNetHack, one woodchuck will always appear on the Oracle level, and can very rarely appear over time.

SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, woodchucks are marginally more common, as there's often a single woodchuck generated in the Oracle level. On Groundhog Day (February 2), many woodchucks spawn on the Oracle level, with a recurring message of "No more woodchucks!"

Encyclopedia entry

The Usenet Oracle requires an answer to this question!
&nbsp;
&gt; How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could
&gt; chuck wood?
&nbsp;
"Oh, heck!  I'll handle *this* one!"  The Oracle spun the terminal back toward himself, unlocked the ZOT-guard lock, and slid the glass guard away from the ZOT key.  "Ummmm....could you turn around for a minute?  ZOTs are too graphic for the uninitiated.  Even *I* get a little squeamish sometimes..."  The neophyte turned around, and heard the Oracle slam his finger on a computer key, followed by a loud ZZZZOTTTTT and the smell of ozone.

[ Excerpted from Internet Oracularity 576.6 ] 

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