I have never managed to photograph a Hoary Marmot—the Yellow–bellied Marmot, yes, but the Hoary Marmot, no. So, when Bethany Arndt showed me the pictures she had taken on a hike into Kokanee Glacier Park, I asked to post them and she agreed.
In regions, such as this, where both species of marmot flourish, they are separated by altitude—Yellow-bellied in valleys, and Hoary in mountains. The Hoary Marmot inhabits scree slopes adjacent to the abundant meadows of vegetation upon which it feeds.
Away from humans, the Hoary Marmot is wary, but along hiker’s trails, it will approach and seek a portion of the hiker’s trail mix.
A Hoary Marmot sits in a field of Western Anemone.
A mendicant marmot makes for close pictures.
Bethany Arndt’s pictures are used with permission.