Vancouver Island Marmots - Almost bed-time

Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery - please visit marmots.org for more information.
The days are shorter, the nights colder, and the vegetation is much less tasty than in June and July. When you're a marmot, this means that you're probably already thinking about hibernation. Marmots start preparing for hibernation weeks in advance. They eat less, and spend more time resting. In this video, you see an adult pull a pup out of the burrow. The pup grabs a quick bite of vegetation, but is much less interested in eating than it was earlier in the summer. It's almost bed-time!
Marmots are the largest true hibernators, which means that their metabolism slows significantly overwinter. Although most people think of bears as hibernators, a bear only slows its metabolism slightly in comparison. If you're still uncertain about the difference, try to imagine this - if you jump on top of a marmot burrow overwinter, the marmot won't even roll over. But if you jump on a bear den, the bear will definitely have something to say about it.
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