I have made many postings about marmots, but all recent ones treated the Yellow-bellied Marmot. This one is about the Hoary Marmot.
Three species of marmot are found on the mainland of British Columbia — Yellow-bellied, Hoary, and Woodchuck — all of which are found around Kootenay Lake. Of those, I had only seen the first. Here is the second and largest of them.
The presence of all three of these marmots here is somewhat accidental. Kootenay Lake is near the northern limit of the Yellow-bellied’s range, and near the southern limit for the other two. The first two are fairly common, but the Woodchuck seems a local rarity. Recent postings have favoured the Yellow-bellied because it inhabits the valleys while the Hoary favours subalpine mountain slopes.
The Hoary Marmot is named for the silver-gray fur on its shoulders and upper back. It spends nearly half its morning sunning itself on rocks.
The Hoary’s lower back and tail show hints of reddish-brown. This Hoary shared its talus with Pikas.
This is the time of year to see the pups.
“Maybe the time has come to roll over and sun the other side.”
