Every summer in Colorado’s high country, yellow-bellied marmots race to gain enough weight to make it through months of hibernation. But this year’s meager snowpack and early spring have put that survival strategy under new pressure.
Scientists with the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory near Crested Butte have studied individual marmots in the wild for more than six decades. And they say that understanding what's happening with these mammals reveals a lot about the overall health of high-alpine ecosystems.
This month, the RMBL Marmot Project is set to turn serious science into a fun public competition with the launch of the first-ever Fat Marmot Week – a bracket-style tournament that invites the public to vote for the marmot who’s most ready for winter.
Dan Blumstein co-leads the Marmot Project. He's a biologist and UCLA professor who has spent many years studying different species of marmots. He joined Erin O'Toole to talk about their research into these chunky, ground-dwelling mammals.
The RMBL team is introducing new marmots to the competition on Mondays and Fridays. Voting runs from Aug. 24 – Aug. 29.
The team recently launched an OnlyFans account (called "OnlyMarms") to help raise money for research. Blumstein says it provides "uncensored–but G-rated–marmot content."
