Vancouver Island Marmots - The turning season

Vancouver Island Marmot Recovery - please visit marmots.org for more information.
It must be getting close to autumn - the vegetation has turned yellow and brown, and the marmots are spending much less time foraging. In fact, at this time of year, marmots spend most of their above-ground time sitting on their front porch or a boulder near their special hibernation burrow. To us, it looks as if they are waiting for someone to tell them that it is time to go underground! When these marmots are ready to hibernate, they will enter their hibernaculum and seal the entrance with a mixture of soil, rocks and feces. This blocks out the cold winter weather, and helps them to maintain a consistent air temperature underground. When marmots start to hibernate, their breathing slows down and their body temperature slowly drops. But marmots can’t let their body temperature drop indefinitely; over the winter, marmots must cycle through periods of cooling and rewarming in order to stay alive. By huddling in groups, all pressed together, marmots synchronize their temperature cycles so that the whole group cools and rewarms at the same time. This helps individuals save energy, and makes them the excellent hibernators that we know they are!
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