Yellow-bellied marmot on the move, Kings Canyon

The yellow-bellied marmot is also called the rock chuck, closely related to the wood chuck. We encountered this one at our campsite in Evolution Valley in the northern region of Kings Canyon National Park. It was the morning after a rainy evening and we were setting our gear out to dry in the morning sun. This marmot came along, seemed to have something to eat while hiding in a crevice, then came out to search around the area for more food. It didn't seem to mind our presence that much, so we had a chance to take 20 - 30 images.

I used my camera that has a 50x zoom lens so we didn't have to be that close. We didn't want to disturb him and for him to show natural behaviors. I got lucky in taking this image while he had his rear right foot off the ground while he was on the move. He hung around camp for about 20 minutes or so.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Marmot from Grand Teton mountain range, Yellow-bellied Marmot (ground hog of the mountains)

The Yellow-bellied Marmot lives at higher elevations in the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and other mountain ranges. It's a large rodent related to the ground hog that lives in burrows among boulder fields. We saw this one during a backpacking trip along the Teton Crest Trail on the Death Canyon Shelf after crossing over the Fox Creek Pass. It didn't seem to mind our presence at all and we were able to get this shot from a distance that didn't cause it any concern about our intentions. There had been thunderstorm activity on this day and it seemed the marmot was trying to warm up on the rock.

The Teton Range in particular has a high incidence of melanism among the yellow-bellied marmot population. Melanism is a condition where the animal's skin and fur has a lot of pigment and appears all black. It's the opposite of albanism, in which an animal has no pigment and appears all white. We did see a melanistic yellow-bellied marmot on this day. It's shown below for comparison. On previous trips, we've seen a regular colored yellow-bellied marmot and a melanistic one playing with each other near their burrow entrance.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!