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Marmot Mountain Music
| Summertime in the Olympics, an experience replete with wildflower-filled meadows, mountain views, and the piercing sounds of the endemic (found no-where else) Olympic Marmot. While it may seem like they are singing (shrieking) their hearts out, claiming their adoration of the beautiful mountains; the call you hear is far from a musical expression. The shriek is an alarm call, alerting other marmots of a predator in the area. The calls are loaded with information. Depending on the inflection of the shriek, they know whether to look for a predator on the ground, or in the sky. A continuing alarm call indicates the predator is close and notifies the fellow marmots to retreat to their burrows. This intricate warning system is much needed because the marmots are slow animals, making them more vulnerable to predators. Their goal throughout the growing season after emerging in May, is to gain weight and stock up on body fat before returning to hibernation in September or October. Although preparing for hibernation is a costly activity when trying to avoid predators, it enables them to survive the severe alpine winters. Other high-elevation herbivores use different strategies, like staying active beneath the snow, or for long-legged browsers, either foraging above snow, or migrating down-slope. Olympic marmots are preyed on by various terrestrial mammals and avian raptors like the Golden eagle, but its main predator today is the coyote. These generalist carnivores have expanded their range as a direct correlation to the decline of wolves. Next time you are in the mountains viewing wildlife, tune into the sounds, noticing not only the marmots that make themselves known, but the messages they are sending. You never know what you might see or hear! |