THE MARMOTS. 



147 



marmots. The body is small and thickset, 

 the tail short, afid the ears are almost com- 

 pletely hidden in the fur. They have large 

 cheek-pouches. They inhabit the cold tracts 

 of both hemispheres, dig holes in fields and 

 meadows, and connect their holes by passages. 

 They also collect considerable stores and 

 pass the . winter in 

 sleep. The species 

 shown in the illustra- 

 tion, the Souslik 

 {Spermophilus citil- 

 lus), fig. 205, is very 

 extensively distribute 

 ed in Russia, and is 

 also found in the Sla- 

 vonic provinces of 

 Austria. The fur of 

 this species is reddish- 

 yellow, somewhat 

 lighter on the under 

 parts. The souslik 

 accustoms itself very 

 readily to the pre- 

 sence of man. 



The Marmots. 



The True Marmots 

 (Arctomys) have a 

 thickset body, almost 

 equally thick along the whole length, a flat 

 skull, slightly concave between the eyes, and 

 a short tail. There are no cheek-pouches; 

 the ears are hidden in the coarse fur. 



The Alpine Marmot [Arctomys marmota), 

 PI. XXXV., inhabits the higher regions of 

 the Pyrenees, Alps, and Carpathians between 

 the woods and the glaciers. It is among the 

 larger rodents, for a full-grown marmot has 

 a body about 20 inches in length, exclusive 

 of the tail, which is about 4 inches long. 

 There is a smaller species, called the Quebec 

 Marmot [A. monax), a native of the Rocky 

 Mountains, and another still smaller, the 

 Bobak [A. Bobac), a native of the steppes of 

 European Russia, Mongolia, and Siberia. 



Fig. 205. — The Souslik {Spermophilus citillus) 



The Alpine marmot is olive-brown in colour, 

 sometimes very dark brown on the back, but 

 a little lighter on the under parts. 



All marmots lead the same kind of life. 

 They dig out underground passages, which 

 are often rather complicated and pretty deep, 

 and these passages end in a chamber vaulted 



like a baker's oven, 

 and warmly lined 

 with dried herbs. 

 They collect no 

 stores of provisions, 

 and when they leave 

 their holes it is only 

 with the utmost cau- 

 tion, after they have 

 carefully surveyed 

 the neighbourhood. 

 When they have as- 

 certained that all is 

 safe, they stand sen- 

 tinel in front of their 

 hole, sitting on their 

 hind quarters with 

 their fore-paws hang- 

 ing down, and direct- 

 ing their glances all 

 round. Gradually 

 other marmots ven- 

 ture out, the neigh- 

 bours come together, they play, and devour 

 fresh herbs, berries, seeds, and so forth, 

 but an old animal always stands sentinel. 

 A shrill whistle gives warning of approach- 

 ing danger, and in the twinkling of an eye 

 the whole assembly has disappeared in their 

 holes, from which they never venture very 

 far. I n the autumn the marmots are fat, and, 

 as I can testify from my own experience, very 

 tasty ; but since the fat is of a greenish tinge 

 it is rather disgusting to some people. On 

 the approach of the winter's cold the marmot 

 retires to his chamber, after carefully closing 

 the mouth of his hole and the passages with 

 dried herbs, and passes the winter in deep 

 sleep. The chase of the marmot is rather 



