We were fishing for brook trout on a little meadow stream somewhere in the Medicine Bow Mountains when we heard a short, high-pitched whistle coming from the rock-studded hillside above us. At first, we thought it might be a bird or maybe a person trying to get our attention, but there were no birds or people in sight. We shrugged our shoulders and went back to fishing. A few minutes later we heard it again, this time from a different place on the hill. Still, we could see nothing. But then, a flash of movement caught our eyes, and there, in a cluster of moss rock and wildflowers, perched a yellow-bellied marmot. It was staring directly at us. Within a few minutes, we spotted several more.
The largest members of the ground squirrel family, marmots are fascinating creatures. They are found primarily in mountainous regions across the Northern Hemisphere from the Rockies to the Himalayas. They usually live in colonies of up to 20 critters, somewhat like our eastern prairie dogs, and they have an affinity for rocky fields, which probably explains why they are sometimes referred to as rock chucks. The piercing, high-pitched sound they use to communicate with each other is likely the reason for their other nickname, whistle pig.
There are 14 species of marmots, and while they all appear to be similar, one is distinctly unique. All of them are herbivores and winter hibernators, but the eastern woodchuck — or groundhog as it is more commonly known — differs in size, social order, geographic distribution, habitat preferences, and diet.
Yellow-bellied marmots are typically smaller than woodchucks, seldom exceed 11 pounds, and live in colonies. Woodchucks can weigh up to 13 pounds and are solitary creatures except during the breeding season when they seek the company of others … for obvious reasons. Yellow-bellied marmots prefer open, rocky fields at high elevations in remote areas; woodchucks can be found in lowland river bottoms, agricultural fields, cow pastures, woodlands, and even suburban subdivisions. All marmots dine almost exclusively on grass and insects common to their local habitat, and woodchucks, though also herbivorous, eat fruits, herbs, flowers, and garden vegetables where available — a trait that does not endear them to farmers or backyard gardeners. But only one marmot (and a groundhog, at that), Punxsutawney Phil, has achieved legendary status as a nationally recognized weather forecaster. I guess you could call that one a “meteorologist marmot.”
Dennis Smith is a freelance outdoors writer and photographer whose work appears nationally. He lives in Loveland.
