MARMOTS. 
83 
“ these animals form large companies, like those on the Missouri, occupying with 
their burrows sometimes two hundred acres of land. The burrows are separate, 
and each possesses perhaps ten or twelve of these inhabitants. There is a little 
mound in front of the hole, formed of the earth thrown out of the burrow; and 
frequently there are three or four distinct holes, forming one burrow, with their 
entrances around the base of these little mounds. These mounds, sometimes about 
two feet in height and four in diameter, are occupied as watch-towers by the 
inhabitants of these little communities. The marmots, one or more, are irregularly 
distributed on the tract they thus occupy, at the distance of ten, twenty, or some¬ 
times from thirty to forty yards. When anyone approaches they make a shrill 
whistling sound, somewhat resembling tweet, tweet, tweet, the signal for their 
party to take the alarm and to retire into their intrenchments. They feed on 
the roots of grass, etc.” In Kansas the common prairie-marmot appears only 
to retire for a few days at a time during the most inclement portion of the 
winter, having been observed in January as active as in summer. Farther to 
the north these animals doubtless, however, retire to their burrows for longer 
periods. 
Some of the burrows of the eastern species are commonly tenanted by a small 
kind of owl, while others are occupied by rattlesnakes; and it is a common popular 
error that all these three animals live together in mutual association and harmony. 
This, however, is far from being the true state of the case. The owls, indeed, take 
up their abode in some of the deserted burrows, and do no harm to their former 
owners, their food consisting mainly of insects and crayfish. On the other hand, 
the rattlesnakes resort to the colony for the purpose of feeding upon the young 
marmots; and although they usually dwell in one burrow, from which they have 
expelled the rightful occupants, they enter others in search of food. 
The True Marmots. 
Genus Arctomys. 
All who have travelled in the higher Alps or Himalaya, are familiar with the 
shrill, piercing, whistle-like screams of the marmots, uttered when they first catch 
sight of an intruder on their lonely domains, and preparatory to taking refuge in 
the security of their burrows. The true marmots, which are the largest members 
of the present group, are distinguished from prairie-marmots by their still stouter 
build, the absence of pouches in the cheeks, and the rudimentary condition of the 
first toe of the fore-foot, which has only a flattened nail in lieu of a claw. Their 
skulls are, moreover, still broader, with the two rows of upper molar teeth nearly 
parallel, and each molar tooth marked only by a pair of transverse grooves. The 
ears are small, like those of the prairie-marmots; and the tail is generally short,, 
although occasionally equal to half the length of the head and body. In size 
marmots vary from about 15 to 25 inches in length, exclusive of the tail; the 
measurements of the latter ranging from 3 to about 12 inches. In general appear¬ 
ance, the stoutness of their bodies and the shortness of their limbs are their most 
obvious features. The head is wide and short, the small ears are more or less 
