MARMOT. 



209 



Ions points ; the body thick and heavy ; the head 

 and eyes of large dimensions, but the ears small ; the 

 feet very strong, with five toes on the hind ones, and 

 four, together with a rudimental thumb, on the fore. 

 The claws upon all very stout and compressed, but 

 better adapted for digging than for prehension, though 

 all the animals have clavicles, and can bring the fore 

 feet to the mouth. The two sub-divisions, or sub- 

 genera, which have been established by M. F. Cuvier, 

 are chiefly founded upon the absence or the presence 

 of cheek pouches : but, in the greater number at 

 least, there is another important character which 

 accompanies this ; those which are without cheek 

 pouches are social, living in considerable numbers, 

 often several families in the same burrow ; and those 

 which have cheek pouches are solitary, living singly 

 or, at most, in pairs. The old generic name, Arctomys, 

 has been restricted to the social species without cheek 

 pouches, of which the Marmot of the Alps is the type ; 

 and the solitary division, with cheek pouches, of which 

 the Souslik, or Siberian Marmot, is the type, has 

 received the name of Spermophilus. We shall take 

 the enumeration of the species under these names, 

 for the sake both of perspicuity and brevity, though 

 there are some of the imperfectly known species 

 which it is difficult to arrange. 



ARCTOMYS. The chief distinction of these having 

 been mentioned just above, there is no necessity for 

 repeating it. 



The Marmot of the Alps (A.marmota) inhabits, as its 

 name implies, the Alps, and some of the other lofty 

 mountains of Europe ; but it is not found even in the 

 most mountainous parts of the British Islands. It is an 

 animal rather more than a foot long from the nose to 

 the root of the tail ; its colour is subject to some varia- 

 tion ; but the prevailing colour on the upper part is 

 dark grey, with the tip of the tail black. The feet 

 whitish, the part surrounding the muzzle whitish grey, 

 and the under part of the body bright brownish red. 

 Its large head, its clumsy body, and its short thick 

 legs, give it what one would be apt to consider an ex- 

 pression of stupidity ; but in the case of no animal is 

 the external appearance more at variance with the 

 facts. In a state of nature it conducts the making of 

 its burrow with greater neatness, and keeps it in better 

 order than any of the burrowing rodentia, and its do- 

 mestic economy is scarcely inferior to that of the beaver ! 

 itself. In fact, though the hut of the beaver is a struc- I 

 ture reared, and the burrow of the marmot is exca- | 

 vated, there is an ingenuity in the one burrow which ; 

 is not found in the other. It always consists of two 

 galleries, the one of which contains the dwelling and 

 the entrance to the dwelling ; and the other, which 

 meets this, but has a greater inclination and opens 

 further down the slope, and at a lateral distance, is \ 

 a sewer or drain, by means of which the [inhabited 

 portion is always kept dry and comfortable. The 

 nest consists of a great quantity of dried grass and 

 moss, and is made sufficiently large for holding a con- 

 siderable number of the animals, which keep one ; 

 another warm during the inclement season, which is I 

 often very severe in the elevated places which these 

 animals inhabit. All the society which inhabit the 

 same burrow work in concert, both in preparing it 

 and stocking it with those provisions which are neces- 

 sary before they pass into a dormant state for the 

 winter, and after they awake in the spring, and 

 before the fields are fit for their support. It is very 

 generally said, that in carrying home their stores, one 



NAT. HIST. VOL. IIL 



of the society allows the others, and even invites them' 

 to use his body as a sort of sledge. He turns on his 

 back, and is loaded with as much of the dry grass, or 

 moss, or other necessary of a marmot's life, as he can 

 hold together with his paws. When he is thus loaded 

 his comrades seize him by the tail and pull him along 

 with his load, he contriving to keep steadily on his 

 back all the time. As those which act horses to this 

 singular sledge get tired, they are relieved by others ; 

 and if " sledge" himself gets exhausted, another is 

 loaded, and so on until the load is safely conveyed to 

 the burrow. There are many other little particulars 

 in their domestic management, contributing to comfort 

 or to cleanliness, the detail of which would render 

 this article too long. 



The marmot of the Alps is easily tamed ; and in a 

 domestic state it is a very docile, gentle, and intelli- 

 gent creature, and may be taught many little tricks, 

 all of which are amusing, and none of them offensive. 

 It is not so productive as some of the other rodentia, 

 there being only one litter in the year, each litter 

 consisting in general of about five ; but the animals 

 are subject to fewer casualties than one would sup- 

 pose, in the cold places which they inhabit, and where 

 the keen eyes of eagles and vultures and other power- 

 ful birds of prey may be supposed to be frequently 

 upon them. They are very vigilant creatures, 

 however ; and it is understood that when they are 

 engaged in their labours, they always have a sentinel 

 posted on some rock or other eminence, who keeps 

 careful watch, gives notice of danger before it is near, 

 and has himself some little place into which he can 

 retire and remain till the danger is over. 



The Polish Marmot, or Bobac (A. hobac) is nearly 

 of the same size with the former, but is a little dif- 

 ferent in the colour. The general colour is yellowish 

 grey, mottled with brownish black, with the under 

 part of the body yellowish russet, and the throat and 

 tail reddish. A portion round the eyes is brown ; 

 and that round the muzzle is silver grey. Its native 

 localities are further to the north than those of the 

 marmot of the Alps ; for it is found from Poland to 

 Kamtschatka. It does not inhabit such elevated 

 places, however, as the Alpine marmot ; and there- 

 fore, though it is found in higher latitudes, it does not 

 follow that it is in a colder climate. It is also careful 

 in selecting the exposure of the situation in which it 

 forms its burrow, and also in the kind of soil in which 

 it is made. It always builds or burrows in a bank 

 sloping to the south, and in dry soil. The burrow is 

 deep, and lodges a colony of from twenty to thirty 

 individuals. The quantity of dried grass introduced 

 into these social burrows is very great ; and they are 

 equally industrious in their labours. 



The Maryland Marmot (A. monax) is an American 

 species, belonging to the same division as the two 

 European ones which have been mentioned, and 

 nearly of the same size. It does not inhabit the very 

 cold places of America, but rather the central and 

 southern parts of the United States, and perhaps 

 places further to the south ; for Catesby styles it " the 

 Bahama rabbit." In the United States it is called 

 the ground hog, and various other local names, none 

 of which are very applicable. Its colour is rusty 

 brown, rather darker on the flanks than on the middle 

 of the back ; a portion round the muzzle is bluish 

 grey, and the tail is black. 



The Quebec Marmot (A, empetra) is not the Canada 

 marmot of Buffon, though it is that of some of the 

 O 



