Time to put the marmots to bed. We’re making our last visits to marmot colonies to pin down hibernacula before winter arrives. Yesterday, the crew paid a “farewell til spring” visit to Haley Bowl.
We try to record exactly where the marmots are hibernating. This helps us avoid sensitive hibernacula when we come to do restoration work after the marmots have gone to sleep.
Knowing where the marmots hibernate also helps us improve our releases and signals who might be producing pups in the spring – marmots that hibernate together (often) stay together. For example, yesterday we learned that Alan and Towhee are hibernating together, and we are hopeful for pups next spring!
At Haley Bowl we learned that all but two of the marmots are underground, and the remaining two (Gary and Anik) are alive and awake. The news is not always that good. On Tuesday at a nearby colony, we found two marmots, Galiano and Saturna, had been predated a cougar.
Here’s hoping for a good winter and great marmot sleeps!
Jordan listens for pings. In addition to helping us pin down the marmots, the ping rate tells us the marmot’s body temperature, which we use to deduce whether the marmot is awake or in hibernation.
Muffin’s hiberculum is located! It does not look like much from the outside, but we record the coordinates for future reference.
Most field days recently have been wet, gray, and cold. But Haley Bowl gifted us with sun and crisp air on our send off visit. We are not planning any restoration at Haley, so this is goodbye until year – not a bad farewell!