Alpine Marmot

mountain animals · hibernation · rodents · Alps

Mountain home. Alpine marmots live in the Alps, Carpathians, Tatras, and Northern Apennines at heights between 800 and 3,200 meters (2,600 to 10,500 feet) where it's cold and snowy.

Winter sleepers. These marmots hibernate during the long, freezing winters, staying in underground burrows for months without eating or drinking.

Family groups. Alpine marmots live together in colonies and communicate with each other using whistles and other sounds to warn of danger.

European comeback. These marmots disappeared from the Pyrenees mountains thousands of years ago, but in 1948 people successfully brought them back to live there again.

Big ground squirrels. Alpine marmots are large members of the squirrel family that spend most of their time on the ground rather than in trees.