8-22-16

MARMOT: Our 14er hiking club MASCOT. :-) Aren't they cute!

We see a lot of marmots on our Colorado hikes. They are brown, plumb & make a loud whistle noise which gives them the nick-name "Whistle Pigs". Marmots are large squirrels (but cuter :-)) that live in burrows often within rock piles (this is where they hibernate through the winter). They live high on the mountains in the green grassy areas. They mainly eat grasses, berries, mosses & flowers. On our Mt. Massive hike we saw a rare white furred marmot. It was the first blonde marmot we've ever seen. The above pic was taken from the web & some of the information is from Wikipedia where you'll see a photo of our 14er group titled: Marmoteers ;-)

These little guys are cute too!! Pica (pronounced Py-ka)

Pica are also very plentiful on grassy mountainsides. They are a small mammal & member of the Ochotonidae family which also includes the Leporidae (rabbits & hares). The Pica is also known as the "whistling hare" due to it's high-pitched alarm call when diving into its burrow. It's whistle has a similar sound to the marmot. The above photo is from the web but below is our pic of a Pica on Mt. Massive.

Click on the photo to get a better look at this cute little Whistle Hare! :-)