52 WILD ANIMALS OF GLACIER NATIONAL- PARK. 



Their food consists mainly of green vegetation, and they are often 

 seen grazing in the meadows, picking the various little plants and 

 eating them, stems, leaves, flowers, seeds, and all. I have not been 

 able to determine the species eaten, but their large stomachs usually 

 contain a well-masticated mass of green herbage with traces of 

 flowers, seeds, and stems. One old fellow in Kootenai Pass, when 

 suddenly alarmed while feeding, rushed to the top of a big bowlder 

 with his mouth still full of green leaves which he slowly chewed 

 while watching me. 



Along the trails over the high passes marmots gather to pick up the 

 scattered oats left by the horses, and are often so eager for this un- 

 usual feast that they would let me take snapshots at 15 or 20 feet 

 before they would leave the trails. The constant passing of tourists, 

 pack trains, and saddle horses is teaching them confidence in these 

 strange new denizens of the park, and evidently with a little care and 

 feeding they could be coaxed into tameness. 



The young are born apparently about the first of June, as a female 

 collected May 27, 1895, contained five well-grown embryos. At the 

 same time several specimens of half-grown young of the previous 

 year were collected, which shows that the young do not fully mature 

 the first year, but apparently reach maturity and a breeding age by 

 the second spring. On August 1, 1917, in Gunsight Pass a family of 

 four young about the size of ground squirrels were photographed 

 among the rocks by the side of the trail while their mother whistled 

 loudly from a ledge above our heads. On August 4 two young about 

 quarter grown were seen in Piegan Pass, and in Kootenai Pass on 

 August 22 several small young were seen among the rocks. In every 

 case the mother was near and was very solicitous for their safety. 

 Whether these small young are able to lay in sufficient food to carry 

 them through the winter's hibernation or whether they are nursed by 

 the mother up to the time of hibernation has not been determined, 

 but that they come through the winter in good condition is indicated 

 by the half-grown specimens collected in May. 



Like all hibernating mammals, marmots have large stomachs and 

 good digestion and assimilation. After the breeding season is over 

 they take on fat rapidly, and by the beginning of cold weather the 

 adults at least have laid in a large quantity of oily fat under their 

 skins, and even the inner body cavities have become loaded with fat. 

 Up to August 24, when for the last time I crossed Swiftcurrent Pass, 

 marmots were still active and their loud whistles were heard across the 

 timberline slopes. A cold wave and snowstorm a few days later may 

 have driven them into their winter dens, but in the short season of 

 these high altitudes they probably remain active as long as the warm 

 days and green food last. AX best they nmst be buried under the 



