Monday, April 5, 2010: Yellow-Bellied Marmot Returns!!
Like any good newpaper writer, the above headline is very misleading.
The Yellow-bellied Marmot that took up residence on the lawn and in the gardens of The Fairmont Empress Hotel in the Fall of 2008 has returned... Again! (Actually, he has probably been hibernating for a second Winter in Victoria and has just reappeared for Spring).
Why is he special? Well, Yellow-bellied Marmots don't usually live in Victoria or even on Vancouver Island, so he probably hitched a ride on a Transport Truck from the Rocky Mountains.
Yellow-bellied Marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the Rock Chuck, is a ground squirrel.. It lives in the Western US and southwestern Canada. Yellow-bellied Marmots usually weigh between 5 and 11 pounds (2 and 5 kg) when fully grown. It inhabits steppes, meadows, talus fields and other open habitats, sometimes on the edge of deciduous or coniferous forests, and typically above 6,500 feet (2,000 m) of elevation. DOESN'T HE REALIZE THAT HE SHOULD NOT BE HERE, AT SEA LEVEL?
1 comment:
This specimen is so weird in this area don't you think?
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