DESCRIPTION

Stumpy shape, yellowish brown coat with darker head, paws and short ears, second half of black tail.

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HABITAT

It lives in the Alps between 1500 and 3000 m altitude and hibernates several months in a burrow. (Length 50 cm.). (Sleeping like a marmot: sleeping deeply and long). Deeper than the summer, the winter burrow consists of a corridor of ten meters. It sinks to almost 3 meters deep. In the room lined with dry hay and larch needles, about fifteen marmots can hibernate, tight against each other.

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WAY OF LIFE

The animals live in small colonies whose cell is composed of the couple of adults and young people. Each burrow is home to a family. However, the area frequented daily includes temporary discounts or individuals take refuge in case of danger.

Six months, the marmot hibernates. Its body lives in slow motion, its temperature drops from 36 ° C to 5 ° C. Its heart goes from 120 beats-minutes to 30 beats. When the outside temperature drops below 12 ° C, the rodent falls asleep deeply. It barely wakes up once a month to do its needs in a hole provided for this purpose, in the bottom of the burrow ! To support this long hibernation, the groundhog has formed fat reserves at the end of the summer. When it wakes up in April, it will have lost more than half of its weight. Its hibernation is not only related to climatic conditions, but also to the need for food when fat reserves are depleted. Some winters where the snow and the cold persist more than normal can be catastrophic, the marmot not finding any more food and having more reserves of fat ... When the spring arrives, it leaves its long sleep, leaves its terrier, then go back into the room to take a less deep slumber for several days, see several weeks. This behavior, common to many hibernating animals, would be, following research not yet completed, the result of the warming of the soil and possibly also of a hormonal substance that would concentrate in the blood to trigger hibernation, the exhaustion of this substance would trigger the phase of awakening, some want to see a meteorological sign giving the duration of winter ... If, according to legend, the groundhog wakes up from its long sleep and out of its burrow to take some activity, the spring will be early, if on the contrary, just out of its hole, it will re-enter the burrow, the winter will be prolonged by some six weeks ... The North Americans, as well as the Canadians, are attached to this tradition and thus established "the day of the groundhog" which has become a popular festival, but the date chosen, February 2, leaves little chance to see the groundhog resume that day his activity, his hibernation not taking end, with very few exceptions, before the end of March, see even more.

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FOOD

Herbivorous rodent, the groundhog must in the 6 months of activity feed and accumulate enough fat for the winter. It is vegetarian and selects among the vegetation the flowers, the plants, the buds, the stems, the seeds which will be the most profitable for it. It prefers clover, thyme, wild thyme, grasses, dandelions or crocuses. It can also eat berries of blueberries or even sometimes locusts, larvae or grasshoppers. They feed in turn, some supervising the surroundings and others eating. The marmot does not drink.

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BREEDING

The courtship displays begin about two weeks after leaving the burrow when the sun's rays begin to burn. At birth, the young are blind and naked. They open their eyes between 26 and 30 days after birth. Weaned around 5 to 6 weeks, they begin to come out of the burrow and cautiously explore the surroundings. They become sexually mature in their second year.

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THREAT

It is one of the rare wild mammals that can be observed and approached without much difficulty. Marmots are still not protected. Yet they almost disappeared from our mountains, as they were hunted and trapped in the past ... but today hunting is regulated. Thousands were unearthed during the winter because they were killed at the exit of the burrows. Coats and blankets were made with their fur. We ate their flesh and used their fat to wax the furniture or to make the so-called ointment effective against rheumatism ! Its greatest predator remains the eagle. Moreover, as it is the largest animal to hibernate really, researchers are trying to understand the phenomenon that allows her to slow down her heart rate and breathing and lower the temperature of her body. If we managed to achieve the same phenomenon in humans, for a short period of time, certain medical operations and treatments would be improved.

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