The Marmots of British ColumbiaBy: Mark L

Introduction

0 I chose to do my first P3 on marmots because when I was at my cabin on Shuswap Lake, my family and I drove up to Revelstoke where we went hiking in Mt. Revelstoke National Park.

0 To get to the top of the mountain we had to go up a long winding road. When we finally reached the top, there were lots of horse flies and mosquitos, but also lots of marmots. I saw many marmots lying around on rockfalls called screes, on the mountainside. When they saw us, they made a high-pitched whistle. I thought this was pretty cool so I decided to do my P3 on them in September.

0 It was fun researching marmots because there are so many interesting things about them that you wouldn’t expect like… well you’ll just have to wait and see.

Species

0 Marmots are the largest squirrels in the world. They have fat bodies small ears, and sharp claws for digging. They vary in height from15-25 inches with a width of 5-12 inches. In some parts of the world, marmots are known as whistle pigs.

Basic Information

Species Marmots of the WorldSpecies Distinction HabitatAltai Marmot Breed very slowly Altai mountains in

central Asia

Steppe Marmot Can go without food for long times

Low plains in Kazhakstan

Black-Capped marmot Brown and white with black heads

Tundra in Siberia

Golden Marmot Sleek gold fur Asian alpines

Himlayan marmot 6000m high Tibet mountains

Alpine marmot Single female reproduces

Throughout the Alps

Menziber marmot Extremely social Meadows in Asia

Mongolan marmot Half females breed All Mongolia

Alaska marmot Can adapt to cold Brook Range Mts.

Hoary marmot Has big buck teeth Rockfalls in the Rockies

Yellow-Bellied Fairly protective Rocky sites in Interior

Groundhog Very solitary Edges of forests on plains

Vancouver Island Almost exctinct Mt. Washington

Olympic Marmot Genders live equally Washington forests

SPECIES This is where marmots live in the world

Altai Marmot

Steppe Marmot

Black-Capped marmot

Golden Marmot

Himalayan Marmot

Alpine Marmot

Menziber Marmot

Mongolian Marmot

Alaskan MarmotHoary

Marmot

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Woodchuck

Vancouver Island Marmot

Olympic Marmot

Species Marmots of British Columbia

Species Distinction Habitat

Hoary Marmot Has long sharp teeth even though vegetarian

Large rockpiles on the sides of the Rocky mountains

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Has very distinctive colours

Flat grass lands in the Thompson Okanagan

Vancouver-Island Marmot

Are the most endangered marmot species

Live in the alpines of Mt. Washinton on Vancouver Island

Species

Map of B.C. Marmots

Hoary Marmot

Yellow-Bellied MarmotVancouver Island Marmot

Habitat

Burrows

Hoary Marmots and Vancouver Island Marmots are alpine marmots which means that they live in the mountainous regions. Alpine marmots tend to live in big rockfalls called screes on mountains. The Yellow-Bellied Marmot however is not a alpine marmot, they live on flat grass lands and make their burrows in the ground.

Hoary MarmotYellow-Bellied Marmot Vamcouver

Island Marmot

Habitat

Protection

Marmots that live in alpine rockpiles have good protection from predators because they make their burrows in the small cracks between rocks that larger predators can’t slip into. As for open plain marmots like the Yellow-Bellied Marmot, they usually make their burrows under large objects such as logs or big rocks.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot burrow Hoary Marmot

burrow

Behaviour

Social Groupings

Marmots are very social animals. They will live in groups of 5-10 other marmots with the exception of the woodchuck. In the cases of the Yellow-Bellied Marmot, even more, usually from 6-12. After hibernation, when the marmots begin to mate, the young males will usually go off to try to form their own group of marmots while the females stay with the current colonies. The males will however go out off their way to find females to join their group.

Group of marmots

Behaviour

Guards

When marmots are playing out in the open, they will usually set two or so guards around the territory to keep an eye out for predators. When a marmot sees a predator, it will let out a high-pitched whistle that let’s all the other marmots know that there is danger and that they should hide.

Marmots watching out for predators

Behaviour

Wrestling

One of the marmots favourite things to do is wrestle. Marmots love to wrestle when they wake up after hibernation and haven’t seen someone in a while. They are rarely violent and don’t last very long. They don’t usually wrestle for dominance, but simply for fun. It is not unusual to see to two marmots kiss after they have finished wrestling.

Reproduction

Hoary Marmot

Mating occurs after hibernation and 2 to 4 young are born in the spring. Males establish "harems,“ which are the groups that the males go off to form, but may also visit females in other territories.

Baby Hoary Marmot

Reproduction

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Each male marmot digs a burrow soon after he wakes up from hibernation. He then starts looking for females, and by summer may have up to four female mates living with him. Litters usually average four to five offspring per female.

Baby Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Reproduction

Vancouver Island Marmot

Vancouver Island marmots typically first breed at three or four years of age, although some have been observed to breed as two-year olds. Marmots breed soon after emergence from hibernation. Litter sizes average 3-4 pups.

Baby Vancouver Island Marmot

Predators

Hoary Marmot

Hoary marmots fall prey to a variety of predators. The most common being the golden eagle mainly targeting the young. Other predators are black bears and wolves. The Hoary Marmot’s alarm whistle is slightly later than other marmot’s. When they see a predator, they don’t usually sound the alarm right away.

Golden Eagle

Predators

The Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Yellow-Bellied Marmots are the prey of bears, wolves and foxes. They are also hunted heavily for their fur by humans. When a Yellow-Bellied Marmot see danger, It cries out immediately before diving into the nearest hole.

Fox

Predators

Vancouver Island Marmot

Predators of the Vancouver Island Marmot are golden eagles, wolves and cougars. Cougars being the most common usually living nearby in the mountains. Like the Hoary Marmot, the Vancouver Island Marmot has a delayed whistle when it sees danger.

Cougar

Fun Facts

0 The sidekick mascot of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Mukmuk, was a marmot!

0 Woodchucks don’t actually chuck wood. Their name came from the word otchek, meaning forest-dwelling weasel!

0 In Russia, Marmot fat is used for medicine!0 Marmots have a sense of place, a lot of them live in some stunning

visual settings!0 Marmots are vegetarian, but will sometimes eat roadkill!0 People who love marmots are called marmotaphiles!0 People who study marmots are called marmoteers!0 Some countries honour the marmot so much that they put them on

stamps and in comic books!

Marmot Lore0 Here is a myth from the mountains of Khunjerab about how the first marmot came to

be.

0 There once were two brothers who were in dispute over their land. After arguing for some time, one of them suggested that they ask the land who owned it. That night, one of the brothers took his young son and went out to the disputed land. There he dug a hole and placed his son in the hole. Before covering the hole he instructed his son to answer back that he was the owner of the land when the question was asked.

0 The next day the two brothers went to ask the land who owned it. When the first brother asked, "do I own you?", the land was silent. When the second brother asked if he owned it, the land spoke back, "yes, you are the owner." The first brother was astounded and agreed that the other brother must be the real owner.

0 Later that day, the new owner went to recover his son. When he got there, he called for his son. All he heard was a whistle. When he began to dig up his son, all he found was a marmot hole. The more he dug, the longer the tunnel was. He never recovered his son and all he heard were marmot whistles.

Bibliography: Sources

0Hoary Marmot, Linzey Verzoletta, www.Wikipedia.com

0Yellow-Bellied Marmot, Sarah Comon, www.Wikipedia.com

0Vancouver Island Marmot, Jacques Marcel, Wikipedia0Marmots of the World, Author unknown,

www.N.A.P.A.K.com 0Vancouver Island Marmot, The Vancouver Island

Marmot Recouvery Foundation, www.marmots.org

Bibliography: Images0 Marmot, cover page, Microsoft0 Video of marmot whistling, by Michelle, from

http://video.yahoo.com/watch/5842789/15288899, sep.1,070 Hoary marmot, slide 7, by Oliver Richard, from www.westjuneau.com, taken on jul.7,070 Yellow-Bellied Marmot, slide 7, by Cagan Sekercioglu, from www.naturalpictures.com ,

taken on sep.8,090 Vancouver Island Marmot, slide 7, by Jeff Werner, from www.jeffwernerphotography.com ,

20090 Yellow-Bellied Burrow, slide 10, by unknown, from www.yellowstonewolf.com, jun.7,030 Hoary Marmot Burrow, slide 10, by unknown, from www.thegardenhelper.com, aug.28,100 Group of marmots, slide 11, by Bob Vincent, from www.rbvincent.com, jul.14,090 Video of marmots boxing, by AmbassadorVP, from www.youtube.com, jun.5,090 Guard Marmots, slide 13, by unknown, from www.wildlifephotoart.com, aug.2,060 Baby Hoary Marmot, slide 14, by Bibi Chang, from www.go2moon.com, apr.8,040 Baby Yellow-Bellied, slide 15, by Bibi Chang, from www.go2moon.com, may.19,040 Baby Vancouver Island Marmot, slide 16, by Bibi Chang from www.go2moon.com, jul.3,040 Golden Eagle, slide 17, by Mike Abacus, from www.donb.photo.net, 19990 Fox, slide 18, by Muskrat Man 1, from www.hidetanning.net, date unknown0 Cougar, slide 19, by unknown, from www.wallpaperstock.com, feb.18,05

THANKS FOR WATCHING

Directed by: Mark LProduced by: Mark LWritten by: Mark L