Hoary Marmot - Sierra Club BC
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Hoary Marmot

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Hoary Marmot

Marmota caligata

Appearance

Hoary marmots are greyish brown with white fur on their shoulders and back. They are 45 to 57 centimetres long and have a long tail and thick, slightly curved claws. 

Range & Habitat 

They live at high elevations, near the tree line on rocky slopes and alpine meadows. They are found throughout the mountainous areas of B.C. 

Hoary marmots spend seven months hibernating after eating alpine plants and seeds all summer. In areas where there is enough food, they will live in a colony with a dominant male, females and offspring. They selectively forage. This means that they choose to eat their favorite plants rather than the most abundant plants.  

The hoary marmot has many gifts, but they are most talented in communication. They have seven distinct calls, four of which are different alarm calls for fellow marmots in their colony. Many hikers will remark on the whistling sound of marmots in mountain parks. In their free time, marmots are quite carefree and playful individuals. They are extremely curious and may wrestle with each other when young!

These are an important species for humans to steward and protect due to their importance in grizzly bear diets. In the spring, summer and fall, the hoary marmot is one of the most important foods for grizzly bears.  

Lifecycles

Their breeding season begins after hoary marmots come out of hibernation (mid-May). They have two to five young, and the young stay in the burrow until they are about a month old. They go off on their own when they are two years old, but many don’t survive because of predation. There can be a shortage of protective burrows for young marmots to dive into when danger approaches. 

Status

COSEWIC: Not Reported
CDC: Yellow

More Information

If you belong to a First Nation with a story or piece of information not represented here and you would like to share more about this species, please email us at education@sierraclub.bc.ca.

Photo: Canva

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