Vancouver Island Marmot

This house-cat sized marmot or ground squirrel was first described in 1910. The Vancouver Island marmot is currently regarded as one of the rarest mammals of North America with fewer than 100 individuals remaining. It has quite a stocky body and a blunt, chubby face with small ears. The lustrous fur is usually a rich chestnut-brown colour with a creamy white patch around the nose and mouth that extends to the underside of the neck. The tail is fairly bushy and there is often a mottled streak of creamy-white fur along the chest and belly. Pups can be identified by their small size and very dark brown to black fur. Like all marmots, the Vancouver Island marmot lives in one or more families. Families typically contain one adult male, up to two adult females, sub-adults, juveniles and the offspring produced that year. The colony lives in a complex series of underground burrows, and communicates by direct contact and whistling vocalisations including a high-pitched alarm whistle to warn others of impending danger. Hibernation occurs each winter between the end of September and early May, and hibernacula are characterised by the presence of grass and mud plugs sealing the burrow entrance during autumn, and tunnels in the snow after the occupants have emerged.