The February 3 General Meeting was held via Zoom with 40 members attending.
President John McGinn thanked Alan and Elaine Brown for putting in the time and organizing our meeting.
Alan Brown introduced our guest speaker, Adam Taylor, Executive Director of the Marmot Recovery Foundation since 2015. Previously, Adam worked in other species recovery programs such as endangered shark-tailed snakes, bats, turtles, and slugs. Without the ground efforts of the Marmot Recovery Foundation, funded by landowners and individual donors, the wild population of the Vancouver Island Marmot would be gone.
The Vancouver Island Marmot is totally unique to Vancouver Island and is one of the largest members of the squirrel family (about the size of a large house cat). However, the VI Marmot is an “upside down” squirrel with powerful shoulder and leg muscles for digging.
MARMOT HABITAT
VI Marmots live in south and west-facing sub-alpine and alpine meadows where avalanches and snow creep clear the bowls and chutes from trees. These tree-free open meadows are filled with grasses and flowers which this herbivore loves. These areas are also the first to be free of snow and produce early grasses when the marmots emerge from hibernation in the spring. When not eating, the VI marmot stretches out on boulders, watching for predators such as cougars, wolves, and golden eagles, announcing their arrival with a shrill whistle and a scurry into an escape burrow.
HIBERNATION
The VI Marmot lives in family groups called colonies and hibernates below the frostline for 7 months from mid-September till late April or early May. During this time their metabolic rate slows down, Adam describing them as “freeze dried”. Their breath rate slows to 1-2/minute, and their heart rate from their usual 110-200 beats per minute to 4-8 bpm and their body temperature drops to 4-6 degrees Celsius. They lose 30% of their body mass during this period. However, they do wake up every two weeks for a bathroom break and these brief, wakeful periods use up 80% of their energy. Come spring, when they emerge, they often tunnel through several meters of deep snow, and it can take two weeks for their digestive system to “wake up”. They are most vulnerable to perishing during this time from a lack of energy also making them easy prey.
The mature 3+year old female marmot is pregnant for one month giving birth to 3 or 4 pups once every two years. The pups spend their first month inside their burrows emerging in late June or July. The pups stay with the mom for two years. The marmots hibernate as a family although the father may have several different long-term relationships.
ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
VI Marmots are great pollinators and they play an important role in turning over soil making nutrients available. Their network of burrows provides hibernacula for western toads and garter snakes.
DISPERSAL
VI Marmot colonies are small with usually 2-4 marmots made up of family members making mate selection difficult. VI Marmots live in networks of colonies called “meta-populations”. Therefore, marmots leave their home colony in search of a colony nearby or else they attract a mate coming from another colony. This movement between colonies is called dispersal. A usual dispersal range is 5-20km, but one tracked male dispersed 27km which may explain the two lost marmots-one found in a wood pile at Qualicum Beach and the other on the beach at Bamfield. Dispersal allows new colonies to be formed and replenishes declining colonies keeping the VI marmot population healthy.
HISTORY
DNA evidence suggests that the first VI Marmot arrived around 100,000 years ago. Marmots played an important part of First Nations history. They were hunted annually for their fur and meat, and they played a role in their spiritual life. This would suggest that the marmot population was once quite large and widespread.
DECLINE
In 1978 the VI Marmot was an endangered species and in the mid-1990s the population was in serious trouble. In 1998 only 70 marmots were recorded in the wild with only one small colony on Mt. Washington and the others east of the Nanaimo Lakes.
It isn’t known with certainty why marmots were disappearing, but their core habitat is small and patchy, and colonies have relied on dispersal efforts to maintain their population. However, roads and dams may have impaired their ability to disperse and their ability to rescue each other. The cottontail rabbit was introduced to Vancouver Island followed by its predator, the Golden Eagle, which now has an established population here. Predators account for 80% of the VI Marmot decline.
RECOVERY
The Marmot Recovery Foundation was founded in 1999. The Recovery Team launched a rescue effort of captive breeding combined with the release and reintroduction of captive-born marmots to the wild. Without this program the Foundation felt that the VI Marmot would become extinct. As of 2020, they have released 550 captive bred VI Marmots. Two colonies have dispersed and created their own colonies. There are now 70-80 marmots in Mt. Washington and Strathcona Provincial Park. Each year the Foundation supports growing colonies by releasing marmots. They also rescue lost marmots or those in danger. Furthermore, they monitor the wild population with radio telemetry and provide high energy food for their emergence in the spring.
FUTURE FOR MARMOTS
The VI Marmot is one of the rarest mammals in the world.
Climate change over the past 20-30 years has produced a change in tree cover which has increased in the marmots habitat by 25%.
But thanks to the recovery efforts, the VI Marmot population has increased from less than 30 wild marmots living in a handful of colonies in 2003 to 250 (an increase of 50 from 2020-2021) living in over 20 mountains.
HOW TO SPOT THE VI MARMOT AND WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
The VI Marmot spends early mornings and late afternoons lounging on top of rocks looking downhill for predators. They have chocolate brown fur with which patches on their nose, chin. forehead, and chest. On Mt Washington they live right on the ski slopes (which are “artificial avalanche” areas). You may find a pile of dirt and rocks which is the front porch of their burrow. Or you may see emergence holes from their hibernacula in the spring snow. If you see one: take a photo, record the location or GPS coordinates, ear tag visibility and please let the Recovery Team/Foundation know of your find.
On behalf of Glacier Probus, Alan Brown reported a donation will be made to the Marmot Recovery Foundation. You can visit their website at: https://marmots.org
Or join The Adopt A Marmot Club!
President John thanked Adam for a most interesting presentation and reported that when he was on the chair lift at Mt Washington he saw a marmot.
The winners of Hot Chocolates Gift Certificates were: Gerry Haist, Ian Thompson, Jeannie Hall, and Robin Harrison!
President John again thanked everyone and noted it would be wonderful to meet in person in the Spring.
President John McGinn thanked Alan and Elaine Brown for putting in the time and organizing our meeting.
Alan Brown introduced our guest speaker, Adam Taylor, Executive Director of the Marmot Recovery Foundation since 2015. Previously, Adam worked in other species recovery programs such as endangered shark-tailed snakes, bats, turtles, and slugs. Without the ground efforts of the Marmot Recovery Foundation, funded by landowners and individual donors, the wild population of the Vancouver Island Marmot would be gone.
The Vancouver Island Marmot is totally unique to Vancouver Island and is one of the largest members of the squirrel family (about the size of a large house cat). However, the VI Marmot is an “upside down” squirrel with powerful shoulder and leg muscles for digging.
MARMOT HABITAT
VI Marmots live in south and west-facing sub-alpine and alpine meadows where avalanches and snow creep clear the bowls and chutes from trees. These tree-free open meadows are filled with grasses and flowers which this herbivore loves. These areas are also the first to be free of snow and produce early grasses when the marmots emerge from hibernation in the spring. When not eating, the VI marmot stretches out on boulders, watching for predators such as cougars, wolves, and golden eagles, announcing their arrival with a shrill whistle and a scurry into an escape burrow.
HIBERNATION
The VI Marmot lives in family groups called colonies and hibernates below the frostline for 7 months from mid-September till late April or early May. During this time their metabolic rate slows down, Adam describing them as “freeze dried”. Their breath rate slows to 1-2/minute, and their heart rate from their usual 110-200 beats per minute to 4-8 bpm and their body temperature drops to 4-6 degrees Celsius. They lose 30% of their body mass during this period. However, they do wake up every two weeks for a bathroom break and these brief, wakeful periods use up 80% of their energy. Come spring, when they emerge, they often tunnel through several meters of deep snow, and it can take two weeks for their digestive system to “wake up”. They are most vulnerable to perishing during this time from a lack of energy also making them easy prey.
The mature 3+year old female marmot is pregnant for one month giving birth to 3 or 4 pups once every two years. The pups spend their first month inside their burrows emerging in late June or July. The pups stay with the mom for two years. The marmots hibernate as a family although the father may have several different long-term relationships.
ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
VI Marmots are great pollinators and they play an important role in turning over soil making nutrients available. Their network of burrows provides hibernacula for western toads and garter snakes.
DISPERSAL
VI Marmot colonies are small with usually 2-4 marmots made up of family members making mate selection difficult. VI Marmots live in networks of colonies called “meta-populations”. Therefore, marmots leave their home colony in search of a colony nearby or else they attract a mate coming from another colony. This movement between colonies is called dispersal. A usual dispersal range is 5-20km, but one tracked male dispersed 27km which may explain the two lost marmots-one found in a wood pile at Qualicum Beach and the other on the beach at Bamfield. Dispersal allows new colonies to be formed and replenishes declining colonies keeping the VI marmot population healthy.
HISTORY
DNA evidence suggests that the first VI Marmot arrived around 100,000 years ago. Marmots played an important part of First Nations history. They were hunted annually for their fur and meat, and they played a role in their spiritual life. This would suggest that the marmot population was once quite large and widespread.
DECLINE
In 1978 the VI Marmot was an endangered species and in the mid-1990s the population was in serious trouble. In 1998 only 70 marmots were recorded in the wild with only one small colony on Mt. Washington and the others east of the Nanaimo Lakes.
It isn’t known with certainty why marmots were disappearing, but their core habitat is small and patchy, and colonies have relied on dispersal efforts to maintain their population. However, roads and dams may have impaired their ability to disperse and their ability to rescue each other. The cottontail rabbit was introduced to Vancouver Island followed by its predator, the Golden Eagle, which now has an established population here. Predators account for 80% of the VI Marmot decline.
RECOVERY
The Marmot Recovery Foundation was founded in 1999. The Recovery Team launched a rescue effort of captive breeding combined with the release and reintroduction of captive-born marmots to the wild. Without this program the Foundation felt that the VI Marmot would become extinct. As of 2020, they have released 550 captive bred VI Marmots. Two colonies have dispersed and created their own colonies. There are now 70-80 marmots in Mt. Washington and Strathcona Provincial Park. Each year the Foundation supports growing colonies by releasing marmots. They also rescue lost marmots or those in danger. Furthermore, they monitor the wild population with radio telemetry and provide high energy food for their emergence in the spring.
FUTURE FOR MARMOTS
The VI Marmot is one of the rarest mammals in the world.
Climate change over the past 20-30 years has produced a change in tree cover which has increased in the marmots habitat by 25%.
But thanks to the recovery efforts, the VI Marmot population has increased from less than 30 wild marmots living in a handful of colonies in 2003 to 250 (an increase of 50 from 2020-2021) living in over 20 mountains.
HOW TO SPOT THE VI MARMOT AND WHAT YOU NEED TO DO
The VI Marmot spends early mornings and late afternoons lounging on top of rocks looking downhill for predators. They have chocolate brown fur with which patches on their nose, chin. forehead, and chest. On Mt Washington they live right on the ski slopes (which are “artificial avalanche” areas). You may find a pile of dirt and rocks which is the front porch of their burrow. Or you may see emergence holes from their hibernacula in the spring snow. If you see one: take a photo, record the location or GPS coordinates, ear tag visibility and please let the Recovery Team/Foundation know of your find.
On behalf of Glacier Probus, Alan Brown reported a donation will be made to the Marmot Recovery Foundation. You can visit their website at: https://marmots.org
Or join The Adopt A Marmot Club!
President John thanked Adam for a most interesting presentation and reported that when he was on the chair lift at Mt Washington he saw a marmot.
The winners of Hot Chocolates Gift Certificates were: Gerry Haist, Ian Thompson, Jeannie Hall, and Robin Harrison!
President John again thanked everyone and noted it would be wonderful to meet in person in the Spring.