There are times when you see things in your rambles that make you stop and ask, “What on earth is that about?!” If you take the time to sketch or paint what you see, sometimes you can find an answer to that question. Once, out by my creek, I discovered a woodchuck up a tree and quickly sketched him. No one would believe what I had seen until I showed them my sketch. Eventually, I asked the right person with the Missouri Department of Conservation, who told me that climbing woodchucks are not all that uncommon!
Sketching similar mammals will help you understand the differences among them. Muskrats are similar in size and shape to woodchucks, but not in habitat. Beavers share a habitat with muskrats, but their size and their tails are quite different.
These woodchuck sketches are far more conventionally posed than the character up the tree, but they are still fun to draw (as quickly as possible!).
Here, you can see my climbing friend. I wondered if he had been chased up the tree by a predator, or maybe he was looking for food.