Mr Marmot

I was hiking in Mt Rainier National Park the other day with my ol' college roommate Dick and his wife Wilma and son John when we came upon this marmot, grazing on plants at the side of the trail. I guess I identify with marmots because, like myself, they're fat; they like to lay in the sun; and they enjoy the mountains. You find them in all the mountains of the west; they're plentiful in the Rockies and Sierra as well as the Cascades. Though mostly herbivorous, marmots...at least those in the Mineral King area of Sequoia NP, have developed a taste for antifreeze. They will bite through hoses in cars to get at the tasty (?) liquid and have been known to disable vehicles in that area! On other occasions they have set up under the hood of someone's car and still been there, without disabling the vehicle, when the owner returned and drove off. In this way our furry mountain friends have made it as far afield as LA! I reckon a marmot would look cool riding in a Mercedes convertible wearing Oakleys.