THE MARMOT. 



605 



to moist soil. It does not seem to be fond of elevated situations, but generally takes 

 up its residence on the sides of valleys, where the temperature is not so bleak as on 

 the mountain-top. 



Like many other burrowing animals, it lays up a store of provisions for the winter, 

 and generally chooses well-dried hay for that purpose. So hard does the animal 

 labor at amassing this treasure, that in a single burrow there is generally found as 

 much hay as will suffice a horse for a night. It is slightly variable in color, some spec- 

 imens being more brown than others. 



THE common MARMOT is about the size of an ordinary rabbit, and not very unlike 

 that animal in color. The general tint of the fur is grayish-yellow upon the back and 

 flanks, deepening into black-gray on the top of the head, and into black on the ex- 

 tremity of the tail. 



It is very common in all the mountainous districts of Northen Europe, where it associ- 

 ates in small societies. The Marmot is an expert excavator, and digs very large and 

 rather complicated burrows, always appearing to reserve one chamber as a storehouse 



MARMOT. A 'rctomys Marmotta. 



for the heap of dried grasses and other similar substances which it amasses for the 

 purpose of sustaining life during the winter. The chamber in which the animal lives and 

 sleeps is considerably larger than the storehouse, measuring, in some cases, as much 

 as seven feet in diameter. The tunnel which leads to these chambers is only just 

 large enough to admit the body of the animal, and is about six feet in length. 



To these burrows the Marmot retires about the middle of September, and after 

 closing the entrance with grass and earth, enters into the lethargic hibernating state, 

 and does not emerge until the beginning of April. Like other hibernating animals, 

 they are very fat just before they take up their winter-quarters, and as their fur is then in 

 the best condition, they are eagerly sought after by the human inhabitants of the same 

 country. The burrow of the Marmot is always dug in dry soil, and is seldom known to 

 be at all above, or very much below, the line of perpetual snow. In these burrows 

 the young Marmots are born, about three or four in average number. The burrow 

 forms also a stronghold into which the Marmot can retire on the least alarm. It 's so 

 wary an animal that it always plants one of its number to act as a sentinel, and on 

 the first symptom of danger, he gives the alarm cry, which is a signal for every Marmot 

 to seek the recesses of its subterranean home. 



