![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-7122b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"yellow-bellied-marmot-7122b-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nA change of pace today. No feathers.<\/p>\n
Six days ago I spent some time at a Yellow-bellied Marmot burrow I’m quite familiar with because I’ve photographed marmot families there in previous years. Last year at about this time there were five pups at the burrow but this year I’ve seen only one during several visits. The single pup seems significantly more advanced in age and size than the pups last year and I’m not sure why. It could be related to the effects of climate change or the fact that there are apparently far fewer pups or both. Or something else.<\/p>\n
But based on its size and the time of year perhaps it’s more likely that this is a yearling female rather than a pup of the year. Male offspring disperse when they are yearlings but young females tend to stay near the burrow complex where they were raised so it’s very possible that this is one of the pups I photographed last April. They don’t breed until they’re two years old.<\/p>\n
During several visits I took many photos of both adults and the pup\/yearling but today I’ll present only two of them, both of the youngster rather than the adults.<\/p>\n
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Here (s)he had just emerged from one of the burrow entrances (the rock crevice directly behind her) but she was apparently still both sleepy and cold so she stretched out and plastered herself against the sun-warmed rocks and yawned enthusiastically. I like the way she raised her left foot as part of the satisfying yawn and stretch. I know that feeling.<\/p>\n
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![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-7147b-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"yellow-bellied-marmot-7147b-ron-dudley\\"")
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But soon an annoying itch interrupted her warming reverie on the rock so she stood up and scratched the hell out of it.<\/p>\n
I like this shot for a variety of reasons. She gave me the perfect angle to display the behavior well, I have excellent eye contact and the rocky habitat is ideal for the species. But it’s the position of her left leg and foot while scratching that puts the image over the top for me. She had to get it out of the way to scratch the appropriate spot and I’ve contorted my body into similar positions while scratching, especially during the bouts of itchy dermatitis I’ve had to endure recently. Unlike my own itching this image delights me.<\/p>\n
Yellow-bellied Marmots typically hibernate for eight months of the year so beginning about midsummer I won’t have access to them for many months. I think I’ll\u00a0 be visiting this burrow again soon, despite their lack of feathers…<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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A change of pace today. No feathers.<\/p>\n