Hoary Marmot - Marmota caligata

Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Rodentia
Family: Sciuridae
Genus: Tamiasciurus

Description

The hoary marmot has thick, silvery-gray fur on its head, shoulders and half of its back. It has reddish-brown fur on the back half of its back, its rump and on its long bushy tail. It has black feet, a white patch of fur between its small, round eyes and white fur around its nose and mouth. It has small ears and long, curved claws on both its front and hind paws.

Range

The hoary marmot is found in Alaska south to Washington, northern Oregon and most of Montana and parts of Idaho.

Habitat

The hoary marmot is found on rocky mountain slopes and hillsides and in alpine meadows.

Diet

The hoary marmot eats a variety of grasses, green plants and seeds. It often eats snow to get the water it needs. The hoary marmot puts on a layer of fat in the fall before it hibernates. In the southern parts of its range, it hibernates from October through February. In the northern part of its range, it hibernates from September through April. The marmot is very territorial and will chase other marmots from its feeding range.

Life Cycle

Hoary marmots mate shortly after they come out of hibernation. They mate in their burrows. A month after mating, the female will give birth to two to four babies. The babies spend their first month in a burrow underground. They will be fully weaned about two weeks after they come out of the burrow. The young will stay with their mother for their first two years.

Behavior

When there is plenty of food, hoary marmots live in colonies made up of a dominant male, a few breeding females and their young and a few subordinate males. Only the dominant male mates with the females in the colony. If there is limited food, hoary marmots may live in groups of one adult male and female and their young. Hoary marmots often wrestle with each other for hours. They stand on their hind legs and put their front paws together and push at each other.

Hoary marmots are also very vocal and have a system of alarm calls, whistles, and trills to warn off predators like coyotes, eagles, and foxes. In fact, another name for the hoary marmot is the whistler. The hoary marmot gets its name from its silvery-white fur. The word hoary means something that is gray or white, as if with age.