The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the rock chuck, is a large, stout-bodied ground squirrel in the marmot genus.[2] It is one of fourteen species of marmots, and is native to mountainous regions of southwestern Canada and western United States, including the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada, and Mount Rainier in the state of Washington, typically living above 2,000 metres (6,500 feet)[citation needed]. The fur is mainly brown, with a dark bushy tail, yellow chest and white patch between the eyes, and they weigh up to approximately 5 kilograms (11 pounds). They live in burrows in colonies of up to twenty individuals with a single dominant male. They are diurnal and feed on plant material, insects, and bird eggs. They hibernate for approximately eight months starting in September and lasting through the winter.
We went on a quick hike to the Perrine Coulee Falls over the weekend and with the weather being as perfect as it was, we weren't the only creatures that were out. On the hike up the canyon we spotted this golden rock chuck just hanging out on a warm rock. He didn't seem bothered by us and posed for a few good pictures before we left him and continued to the falls.
rock chuck of southern idaho animal pictures
I don't know the actual stats on how rare an albino marmot is, but I know they aren't common. Chances are you have never seen one before either. The only evidence of a previous albino rock chuck in the Snake River Canyon was a post from more than a decade ago. The poster, Ryan Geer, actually saw his golden marmot around the same place as we did.
These animals are active during the day. Many of them lay on rocks sunning themselves in the morning, then look for food. Most of them are social animals and live in colonies with 10 to 20 other animals. However, some species live by themselves or with just one other marmot. This is a shy animal with a lot of predators. It prefers to stay underground and out of sight most of the time.
The rock chucks there even have an unofficial fan club, with someone Tweeting and posting on Facebook as the animals. The rock chucks, or at least their online persona, refused to comment for this story.
The real-life rock chucks also like to be underground. Rock chucks are in the same genus as the groundhog, which is found in the Eastern United States and Canada, and hibernate throughout fall and winter. Between hibernation and daily trips into their dens, rock chucks spend about 80 percent of their lives underground, Goodell said. Now is the time to spot them above ground.
Over the past month the rock chucks have come out of hibernation in Central Oregon and may regularly be spotted munching on lawns. When above ground, they spend much of their time eating and fattening up for the next hibernation.
Woodchucks breed in late February or March and usually not until the animal is close to two years old. The gestation period is 31-32 days. Four to five young are born in April or May. A woodchuck will give birth to only one litter per year. The young will start to find their own territory when they are just a few months old.
While there are several species of marmots in North America, our woodchuck is found mostly in the eastern United States and across much of southern Canada. In New England, woodchucks inhabit both urban and suburban yards, fields, meadows, woodland clearings, and we see them frequently in grassy areas along highways.
Woodchucks live in extensive burrows two- to six-feet deep and up to 40 feet long that contain numerous chambers with specific functions, such as for nesting or for wastes. You can usually spot the main entrance by an adjacent large mound of dirt, which these animals use for observation and sun-basking. In addition, there may be as many as five other openings to the den.
Woodchucks often conceal their entrance hole by placing it under a rock, in a thicket, or, in many cases, under a building. Rarely do these holes affect the structure of the building. You can close these entrance holes with wood, concrete, or hardware cloth (half-inch wire mesh aluminum screening).
Every year on February 2, Americans turn their attention to a small, furry animal. According to legend, if the groundhog (or woodchuck) sees his or her shadow there will be six more weeks of winter, but if not, spring is on the way.
Rock Type: sedimentary Composition: dolomite and fossils Metamorphoses to: marble Environment: Sea water, high in magnesium, flows through porous limestone and replaces some of the calcium with magnesium turning limestone into dolostone. Fossils are plants or animals that have been preserved in rock as organic carbon, chitin, or some mineral that replaced the original tissue. When an animal or plant dies its body can end up being buried by mud or other sediments. The hard parts (skeleton, teeth, shell) and sometimes tissue (leaves, flowers, muscle, cartilage) may be preserved when the sediments become rock. Distinguishing Characteristics: Grey with fossils that are visible. Anything that looks like it was once alive may be a fossil. Fossils are often the same colour as the rocks in which they are found. Origin of your Samples: Niagara Escarpment in Milton, Ontario Uses: Dolostone from the Niagara Escarpment is used as high quality construction aggregates. It is found in asphalt mixes for roads and streets, high strength concrete mixes used for high-rise residential buildings, bridge overpasses, sidewalks and airport runways. Crushed dolostone is used to create drainage layers under high volume roads and is found in uncontaminated construction fill. 2ff7e9595c
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