Yellow-bellied Marmot
Marmota flaviventris
Summary 3
The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the rock chuck, is a ground squirrel in the Marmota genus. Thier coat varies from grey to dark brown but typically have a light colored yellow to gold belly for which they get thier name. They range from about 3.5-11 pounds as adults. Tails are bushy reddish brown and around six inches long. Eyes and ears are small and they typically have light colored patch between the eyes. These marmots have a very distinctive call that resembles a loud short whistle for which it can be identified by. These are diurnal rodents that hibernate for several months of the year. They have padded feet similar to a cat or dog but have a long foot and toes, claw marks are often visible with tracks (refer to photo). Mormot scat is often found in quantities near where the mormot lives. They tend to use the same location each time and the scat is fibrous because of their diet. Yellow-bellied marmots can be found in parts of Iron County, Utah, mainly in the mountain and canyon areas around rock croppings and rock slides.
Sources and Credits
- (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA), http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/185318245
- (c) ericbaler, all rights reserved
- Adapted by ericbaler from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmota_flaviventris
