THE ALPINE MARMOT. 45l 



caslon for food ; they lay up no provisions in their 

 apartments. But, when they feel the first approach- 

 es of the sleeping season, they shut up both the 

 passages to their residence ; and this operation they 

 perform with such labour and solidity, that it is more 

 difficult to dig the earth in the parts they have thus 

 fortified than in any adjacent spot. At this time 

 they are very fat, weighing sometimes twenty 

 pounds : and continue so for three months ; but 

 afterwards gradually decline, and by the end of win- 

 ter become extremely emaciated. When seized in 

 tlieir winter retreats, they appear rolled up in the 

 form of a ball, and are covered with hay. In this 

 state they are so torpid, that they may be killed 

 without seeming to feel the smallest pain. Like the 

 Dormice, and all other animals which sleep during 

 the winter, the Marmots are revived by a gradual 

 and gentle heat. And those individuals that are fed 

 in houses, and kept warm, never become torpid, but 

 are equally active and lively through the whole year. 

 In their wild state, the old Marmots, at break of 

 day, come out of their holes and feed ; afterwards 

 they bring out their young ones. Thelatter scamper 

 on all sides ; chase each other ; sit on their hind- 

 feet ; and remain in that posture, facing towards the 

 sun, with an air expressive of satisfaction. They 

 are ail particularly fond of warmth ; and when they 

 think tliemselves secure, will bask in the sun for se- 

 veral hours. Before they collect the grass, either 

 for their food or for their winter habitations, they 

 form themselves into a circle, sitting on tlieir hind- 

 legs,>and look about on all sides. On the least alarm 



Gg2 



