The Yellow-bellied Marmot

This is one of my my most popular videos It was made in 2008 in conjunction with a video contest I organized for the Allen Brooks Nature Centre in Vernon BC. The version on my website includes a 'making of' segment. See http://www.bmidd.com/samples/marmots/

The Yellow-bellied Marmot belongs to the biological family of Sciuridae (Psy-your-ih-dee), a diurnal or daylight active, bushy tailed family of rodents that also includes squirrels and chipmunks.

The Yellow-bellied Marmot enjoys dry open habitats in the western United States and south-western Canada. They prefer grasslands and meadows especially in combination with rocky areas and at the base of cliffs.

Marmots are visible for only four months of the year, from April until August. The remainder of the year is spent underground in hibernation. To survive 8 months of hibernation, the omnivorous marmot needs to build up fat reserves on a diet of grass, leaves, flowers, fruit, insects and bird eggs. By the beginning of September, a fully matured yellow-bellied Marmot can weigh up to 5 kilograms.

Awakening from hibernation in April, male marmots dig a summer burrow and then start looking for mates. Marmots live in harem colonies consisting of a harem male and up to four females and their offspring.

The gestation period for marmots is 30 days and litters generally consist of 4 to 5 pups. Marmots begin mating after 2 years of age and have been known to live for 15 years.

Marmot colonies protect themselves from predators by calling out warnings. The characteristic high pitch chirp from an observant marmot warns the colony about approaching humans as well as natural predators such as coyotes, birds of prey and snakes. Marmots only travel within 2 or 3 kilometres from their summer burrows, where they can often be found warming themselves in the sun.

For more information about the yellow bellied marmot please see wikipedia.org, the web site for the Integrated Land Management Bureau of British Columbia Canada or visit the Allan Brooks nature center either on line or in person in Vernon, British Columbia.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• long