64 CALIFORNIA MAMMALS. 



Length about 485 mm. (19 inches); tail vertebr?e 150 

 (6) ; hind foot 70 (2.75). 



Type locaHty, Mountains between Texas and CaHfornia. 



Yeillow-belHed Marmots inhabit the hig-her parts o'f the 

 Sierra Nevada and the mountainous parts of northern CaHfor- 

 nia, the same or a closely related species being- foundl in the 

 mountain ranges north and east to the Rocky Mountains. They 

 live in crevices of rocks near valleys and meadows in the higher 

 mountains, and rarely burrow in level land. I have seen no evi- 

 dence of their presence lower than 5,000 feet altitude. Their 

 upper limit is unknown, but probably they go nearly to timber 

 line in favorable localities. 



The food is necessarily limited to those things of a vegetable 

 nature that are available. In spring when but little bare ground 

 was visible I found freshly cut juniper twigs about the entrance 

 to their burrows. In summer a variety of succulent plants are to be 

 had and then the Marmots take on fat rapidly. With the advent of 

 freezing weather the Yellow-bellied Marmots probably hiber- 

 nate, as the eastern species is well known to do. 



Their hearing and sight are good. Their note is a single 

 loud, clear whistle. Their breeding season is' early, as I shot 

 a suckling female in May above 7,000 feet altitude, where snow 

 dpfts were still deep. 



Very few^ of these animals live near cultivated fields and 

 hence they are practically harmless to man's interests. Marmots 

 are often eaten, but to my taste their flesh is too rank to be agree- 

 able. They are often called Wood-chuck and also Ground-hog. 



Genus Citellus Ok^n. 



Skull varying in comparative width ; postorbital processes 

 usually well developed ; penultimate premolar present, usually one- 

 quarter to one-third as large as the last premolar ; cheek pouches 

 rather large ; ears varying with species from large to rudiment- 

 ary ; tail varying in length and breadth; inner toe on front foot 

 rudimentarv ; habit fossorial. 



