3/30/2017 0 Comments Yellow Bellied Marmot Diet PlanYellow- bellied Marmot - Montana Field Guide. How Associations Were Made. We associated the use and habitat quality (common or occasional) of each of the 8. Montana for. vertebrate animal species that regularly breed, overwinter, or migrate through the state by. Using personal observations and reviewing literature that summarize the breeding, overwintering, or migratory habitat requirements of each species (Dobkin 1. Hart et al. 1. 99. Hutto and Young 1. ![]() The yellow-bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris), also known as the rock chuck, is a ground squirrel in the marmot genus. Maxell 2. 00. 0, Foresman 2. Adams 2. 00. 3, and Werner et al. Evaluating structural characteristics and distribution of each ecological system relative to the species' range and habitat requirements; Examining the observation records for each species in the state- wide point observation database associated with each ecological system; Calculating the percentage of observations associated with each ecological system relative to the percent of Montana covered by each ecological system to get a measure of . USDA Forest Service, Northern Region. Forest Service Region 1. Kids' Inquiry of Diverse Species, Marmota flaviventris, yellow- bellied marmot: INFORMATIONWhat do they look like? Yellow- bellied marmots are a small or medium- sized rodents.
They have sturdy bodies with short, wide heads. Their bodies are covered in coarse hair that is lighter on the tips and darker at the base. This makes them look light brown overall. They have yellowish patches of hair on the sides of their neck, and white spots between their eyes. Definitions of Yellow-bellied marmot, synonyms, antonyms, derivatives of Yellow-bellied marmot, analogical dictionary of Yellow-bellied. Primary Diet; herbivore. ![]() Their belly is yellow or orange- brown, which is how they get their name. Their feet are are tan, hazel, or dark brown. Different subspecies have different colors. Yellow- bellied marmots have small, furry ears. Their back feet have oval pads, and their claws are short and a little bit curved. Every summer, they lose all of their fur and then grow it all back. Males weigh 2. 9. Females weigh 1. 5. Yellow- bellied marmots are 4. Their back feet are 7. Yellow- bellied marmots living in low, dry places are often smaller than ones that live in mountains with more rainfall. They are found as far north as southcentral British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, and as far south as the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California and Nevada. They are found in places that are almost deserts, open areas in forests, and in the mountains above where trees can grow. They are found on hills that also have plants or groups of rocks in meadows. Rocks support their burrows and give them spaces to sun themselves and be on lookout. They need burrows to raise their young, hibernate, and hide from predators, so they are found in places where there are good burrows. Yellow- bellied marmots that live farther south live higher up on the mountains. For example, in the White Mountains of California they only above 2. This also means that farther south, they are live in disconnected groups. Across all places, they are usually found around 2,0. They don't live at very high elevation. Where there are hoary marmots, there are usually are not as many yellow- bellied marmots. About 7. 5% of them live in colonies, 1. Usually, males mate with more than one female. This happens a lot when they live in colonies, where males live together with multiple females and their young. They often move between different colonies, so about 4. The breeding season lasts about two weeks. The young grow inside their mother for about 3. Females have 3 to 8 pups, and 4. Newborn pups are 1. The young are able to breed when they are 2 years old, but only 2. Mothers feed their pups milk for about 3 weeks, and then the pups come out of the burrow. After the pups come out, parents don't spend as much time or effort caring for the young. However, the young are still bonded to their parents for a long time, especially when they are living in colonies. They are impacted by predators, who cause 9. Other reasons they die are hibernation and traveling. In California, a lot of them recently died from sylvatic plague, which is caused by a bacteria. By mid- morning, they look for food. Then, they lay in the sun more, groom themselves, and spend time in the burrow. By late afternoon, they eat again. Most of the time they're above ground, they lie in the sun with their head in an alert position. Because they hibernate for 8 months from September to May, they actually spend about 8. They are 1 of only 2 species of marmots that don't hibernate in social groups. Friendly behaviors are playing, grooming, and greeting each other. Grooming might show that the marmot who is grooming has higher social rank. Friendly behaviors usually happen between yellow- bellied marmots from the same burrow. Friendly behaviors happen more often when all of the marmots have lived together in the same burrow for more than 1 year. Aggressive behaviors are being alert, chasing, and fighting. Aggressive behaviors usually happen between yellow- bellied marmots from different burrows. Males are more protective of their territory in front of other males and adults. To protect their territory, they wave their tails back and forth or mark the ground with their scent. Both males and females will also act aggressively to their young to encourage them to leave the colony. The 3 most important noises they make are called: the whistle, the undulating scream, and the tooth chatter. There are 6 different whistles in total, that are used for alerting others about predators or threatening. Yellow- bellied marmots scream when excited or scared. They chatter their teeth as a threat. Other animals like American pikas and golden- mantled ground squirrels might respond to alarm calls of yellow- bellied marmots. If they are in a conflict, yellow- bellied marmots use their scents to communicate which one is more dominant. They eat many kinds of plants like grasses, flowers, and other flowering plants. In late summer, they also eat a lot of seeds. They sometimes have trouble finding food in the spring, when the ground is still covered in snow. Yellow- bellied marmots don't eat the parts of plants that are toxic or poisonous. Their most important predator is coyotes, and then badgers, American martens, black bears, and golden eagles. Yellow- bellied marmots avoid predators by staying in underground burrows for a long time. This affects how they find food, their social behavior, and habitat selection. Marmots living in colonies are more likely to survive than the ones living at the edges of the habitat. Since yellow- bellied marmots eat seeds, they also affect the plants where they live. They are a good food source for many predators. Their burrows are used by other kinds of digging animals after they leave. In rare cases, humans that touch yellow- bellied marmots could get the plague, which is a deadly disease. Their long- term existence is not severely threatened. They are all closely related to hoary marmots. The two species overlap in a small part of northwestern Montana and western Washington. References. Armitage, K. Badger Predation on Yellow- bellied Marmots. The American Midland Naturalist, v. Effect of predation risk on the presence and persistence of yellow- bellied marmot (Marmota flaviventris) colonies. Journal of Zoology, v. Yellow- bellied Marmots (Marmota flaviventris) Hibernate Socially. Journal of Mammalogy, v. Mammalian Species, No. Plague studies in California—the roles of various species of sylvatic rodents in plague ecology in California. Proceedings of the 9th Vertebrate Pest Conference: 8. Predation on Yellow- Bellied Marmots (Marmota Flaviventris). American Midland Naturalist, Vol. Social cohesion in yellow- bellied marmots is established through age and kin structuring. Animal Behaviour, Volume 7. Issue 6: 1. 34. 3- 1.
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