Marmota caligata
hoary marmot

The hoary marmot occurs at high elevations near the timber line on talus slopes and alpine meadows from Idaho and Washington north to Alaska. The majority of hoary marmot populations are in Alaska (Lee and Funderburg 1982; Nowak 1991).

Hoary marmots usually inhabit alpine and subapline mountain slopes. They also utilize subalpine meadows and rocky outcroppings. In northern Alaska, hoary marmots are often found very near sea level. Hoary marmot ranges sometimes overlap with those of the yellow-bellied marmot, and when this happens, the former forces the latter into lower elevations. These two marmot species both occur in a few places in Montana (Barash 1989).

Hoary marmots are often described as having an "icy-grey" appearance. The front half of the back is white with black hair. The rest of the back is brown. Hoary marmots have cinnamon or brown heads and necks, with white edges around their noses and lips. The rest of their bodies are covered with brown hair. Males are usually slightly larger than females. Hoary marmots range in size from 45 - 57 cm in length, with a tail that extends 17 - 25 cm beyond the body.

Hoary marmots, and all members of the genus Marmota, have thick, slightly curved claws. These claws are heavier on the front feet than they are on the hind feet. The palms are hairless and have five pads; their soles are also naked, but have six pads.

Their eyes are small and circular and they have short, rounded, hairy ears (Lee and Funderburg 1982; Parker 1990).

Hoary marmot social systems are not as rigidly defined as is the case in other marmot species. There, is however a loose dominance hierarchy in which adult males are followed by adult females, two-year-olds, yearling, and finally young of the year. These dominance relationships are loose in that any given interaction between animals might not follow the pattern, and only among adult males can the results of interactions be reliably predicted. In areas where food is plentiful, marmots live in colonies consisting of one dominant adult male, a few females and their offspring, and perhaps one or more subordinate adult males. The dominant hoary marmots are called colony males and they are the only males who mate with the females in the colony. The subordinate adult males, called satellite males, are usually smaller and younger than the colony male. Colony males engage in a behavior called gallivanting during which they wander through their colony in search of excitement, usually of a sexual nature. Colony males are sometimes challenged by satellite males and physical fights can occur. Colony males almost always drive off satellite challengers. These fights, however, are never fatal.

Little is known about the actual mating behavior of hoary marmots because most matings occur inside burrows.

In areas where food is more scarce, hoary marmots do not exist in colonies. Food shortages require hoary marmots to increase their ranges, which can become large enough that a male will not be able to guard more than one female and feed himself at the same time. In these cases, hoary marmots are monogamous, and little male/male competition.

Hoary marmots do hibernate in the winter, and the time at which they enter hibernation depends on where they live. Animals in the southern parts of their range (Washington, Idaho, Montana) hibernate later than animals who live in northern Canada and Alaska. Hoary marmots have been known to begin hibernating as early as the middle of September. They usually emerge from their burrows around the middle of May

All marmots, including hoary marmots, have many vocalizations. A common call is the alarm call which is given anytime anything comes near a burrow. The approaching animal need not be a predator as hoary marmots will give their alarm call when nonpredators get too close. The alarm call is a high-pitched shrill whistle. The calls of hoary marmots are usually higher in frequency and longer than the calls of other marmot species.

(Barash 1974, 1989; Lee and Funderburg 1982).

Little is known about the food habits of hoary marmots. They are mainly herbivorous, and in the spring and early summer, hoary marmots eat leaves and blossoms of many different herbaceous plants and grasses. Late in the summer, hoary marmots like to eat plenty of seeds. There have been a few cases of hoary marmots being carnivorous or even cannabalistic. Cannibalism most likely resulted from scavenging, as there have been no observed fatal fights between hoary marmots. Hoary marmots appear to drink almost daily and they have frequently been observed eating snow. In places where standing water is scarce, hoary marmots seem to get all the water they need from the plants they eat or from the morning dew (Barash 1989; Lee and Funderburg 1982; Parker 1990).

Since the majority of hoary marmot populations occur in regions where there are few human inhabitants, they have little negative effect on human economies. In the few places where humans and hoary marmots do reside together, minimal crop damage is sometimes reported (Lee and Funderburg 1982).

Hoary marmots are occassionaly used as a food source by Native Americans. Sometimes their fur is dyed and sold as mink or sable. Because they are easily kept in captivity, hoary marmots are also good experimental animals for physiological and behavioral studies (Lee and Funderburg 1982).

Hoary marmot populations are stable, and the species is in no danger of becoming extinct (Lee and Funderburg 1982).

Some predators of hoary marmots include golden eagles, lynx, coyotes, bears, and wolverines. Also, since they are not living in a colony, there are not any other marmots to give alarm calls when a predator is near (Barash 1989; Lee and Funderburg 1982).