Alpine marmots and where to find them
If you like playful animals, you should visit a marmot family. Alpine marmots (Marmota marmota) love to play no matter their age. They toss and push each other, rub their noses and groom one another to nurture a good relationship. The parents keep their family together: the young ones live with them for about three years and help them take care of the latest offspring.
The watcher
When the family goes outside the burrow, at least one of the marmots is on the lookout for a possible danger from predators like mountain eagle, ravens, fox, lynx and marten. The guard finds a spot with a good overview and watches the surroundings in a standing position. When the guard sees something suspicious, he quickly alerts his family with the several loud whistles and everyone swiftly runs into cover.
Home sweet home
Alpine marmots are very attached to their burrow and territory, so they defend them fiercely. They are very aggressive to the intruders and intimidate them by beating the tail to the ground and chattering of the teeth. To let the others know where their home is, they mark the boundaries of their territory with their scent.
Underground burrow
The underground burrow has a central role in the marmots’ family and is inherited from generation to generation. The burrow is a system of tunnels that are up to thirty meters long and extend two to five meters deep. The shallower tunnels serve as a refuge from the predators whereas the deeper tunnels lead to the chambers where the whole family hibernates.
Cosy living room
The marmots spend most of their time in a “living room” at the end of the burrow. They cover it with dry grass and hay to make it nice and comfortable. The toilets are in the separate chambers, so the living room can stay clean.
Children enlarge the burrow
Only one family lives in each burrow, nevertheless they are often enlarged by the children. Adult males eventually move away and they can start a family on the border of their parents’ territory. If that happens, the neibouring burrows connect to a big and complex network over time.
Diet
Alpine marmots are herbivores. They eat softer parts of the plants and seeds. They need more than half a kilogram of food per day (one and a half pounds) and even more before winter to prepare for the long hibernation.
Hibernation
The marmots hibernate five to six months. In higher mountains, where the winter lasts longer, they can sleep longer: up to nine months. During the winter sleep, their body temperature drops from 36 to 4.5 degrees Celsius and they breathe only 1–4 times per minute. Their heart rate decreases to 2–3 beats per minute.
Snuggling helps the young
About every ten days they wake up and defecate. Because adults are warmer than the young, parents and their older offspring snuggle with them to control their temperature. Such heat control saves energy and thus increases their chances of survival.
Females have young only three times
Mating starts as soon as they wake up from the winter sleep. At that time, females are severely slimmed down from the hibernation and are later exhausted from being pregnant and giving birth. That’s why they give birth maximum three times in their lifetime, although they can live up to twenty years.
Where can you find alpine marmots
The alpine marmots can be found in the mountain areas of central and southern Europe, at the heights between 800 and 3,200 m (2,600–10,500 ft).
Some interesting locations:
Austria: if visiting Grossglockner High Alpine Road, you will see them on the Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe, where the marmoths have become accustumed to humans: https://www.grossglockner.at/gg/en/natureandexercise/themarmot
Canada: Best places to photograph marmots in Whistler: https://summitlodge.com/blog/the-best-place-to-photograph-marmots-in-whistler-how-to-get-there/#
France: https://en.france-montagnes.com/magazine/mountain-activities/where-can-you-see-marmots-summer-france
India: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/2014/6/marmot-animal-ladakh-india/
Slovenia: https://www.tnp.si/en/learn/majestic-mysterious-and-magical/fauna/
Switzerland Marmot trail offers nice walk for families and watching of marmots up close: https://www.zermatt.ch/en/Media/Planning-hikes-tours/Marmot-Trail-Nr.-8
