The Marmot. 97 



THE AMERICAN DORMOUSE, or GROUND SQUIRREL, is a 

 very beautiful animal, striped down the back, and re- 

 sembling the squirrel in its habits, except that instead of 

 living in trees it burrows in the ground. 



THE MARMOT, OK ALPINE RAT. 



(Arctomys Marmotta.) 



THIS is a harmless, inoffensive animal, and seems to 

 bear enmity to no creature but the dog. He is caught 

 in Savoy, and carried about in several countries for the 

 amusement of the mob. When taken young, he is easily 

 tamed, and possesses great muscular power and agility. 

 He will often walk on his hinder legs, and uses his fore 

 paws to feed himself, like the squirrel. The Marmot 

 makes his hole very deep, and in the form of the letter 

 Y, one of the branches serving as an avenue to the 

 innermost apartment, and the other sloping downwards, 

 as a kind of sink or drain ; in this safe retreat he sleeps 

 throughout the winter, and if discovered may be killed 

 without appearing to undergo any great pain. These 

 animals produce but once a year, and bring forth three 

 or four at a time. They grow very fast, and the extent 

 of their lives is not above nine or ten years. They are 

 about the size of a rabbit, but much more corpulent. 

 When a number of Marmots are feeding together, one of 

 them stands sentinel upon an elevated position ; and on 

 the first appearance of a man, a dog, an eagle, or any 

 dangerous animal, utters a loud and shrill cry, as a sig- 

 nal for immediate retreat. The Marmot inhabits the 

 highest regions of the Alps ; other species are found in 

 Poland, Russia, Siberia, and Canada. 



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