Yellow-bellied marmot
| Yellow-bellied marmot | |
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| Yellow-bellied marmot in Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Sciuridae |
| Tribe: | Marmotini |
| Genus: | Marmota |
| Subgenus: | Petromarmota |
| Species: | M. flaviventris |
| Binomial name | |
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Marmota flaviventris (Audubon and Bachman, 1841) |
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| Yellow-bellied Marmot range | |
The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the rock chuck, is a ground squirrel in the marmot genus. It is native to mountainous regions of the western United States and southwestern Canada, including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada and Mount Rainier in Washington State, typically living above 6,500 feet (2,000 m). The fur is mainly brown, with a dark bushy tail, yellow chest and white patch between the eyes and they weigh up to about 5 kg (11 lb). They live in burrows in colonies of up to twenty individuals with a single dominant male. They are diurnal and feed on plant material, insects and bird eggs. They hibernate for about eight months from September till the weather warms up.
Yellow-bellied marmots usually weigh from 1.6 to 5.2 kilograms (3.5 to 11.5 lb) when fully grown, though males typically weigh more than females. Adult males typically weigh between 3 to 5 kilograms (6.6 to 11.0 lb); females typically weigh between 1.6 to 4 kilograms (3.5 to 8.8 lb). They have a brown coat, a white patch of fur between the eyes, a reddish-brown tail, and a yellow belly, from which they get their name. Their ears are small and round, and they have a short white muzzle with a black nose. They get fatter in the autumn just before hibernating.
The yellow-bellied marmot lives in the western United States and southwestern Canada, including the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada. It inhabits steppes, meadows, talus fields and other open habitats, sometimes on the edge of deciduous or coniferous forests, and typically above 6,500 feet (2,000 m) of elevation.
Their territory is about 4 to 7 acres (2 to 3 ha) around a number of summer burrows. Marmots choose to dig burrows under rocks because predators are less likely to see their burrow. Predators include wolves, foxes, coyotes, dogs and eagles. When a marmot sees a predator, it whistles to warn all other marmots in the area (giving it the nickname "whistle pig"). Then it typically hides in a nearby rock pile.
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Wikipedia