So OF COURSE I went looking for the answer.
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And, fortunatly, I found Cecil...Who says on the matter:
Are you kidding? Everybody knows a woodchuck would chuck as much wood as a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. Next you'll be wanting to know why she sells seashells by the seashore.
Now, If you are like me, you wonder, why does she sell seashells? Well, Cecil can tell you that too:
Because if, by way of alternative, she simply did seashell shucking whilst she sat, we'd all be in big trouble.
Then, Cecil got a blog comment saying:
With regard to how much wood a woodchuck could chuck, etc., I am happy to say that science marches on, and the quaint but oh-so- unscientific answer you gave has been replaced with a modern one. See the enclosed article in the Wall Street Journal
Cecil said...
The article reports on the work of New York state wildlife expert Richard Thomas, who found that a woodchuck could (and does) chuck around 35 cubic feet of dirt in the course of digging a burrow. Thomas reasoned that if a woodchuck could chuck wood, he would chuck an amount equivalent to the weight of the dirt, or 700 pounds. We are pleased to know this, of course. But it sure isn't easy to fit into a snappy verse.
So yes...Now you know....
WOODCHUCK! domokun
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