Bloglander

This week, our Outdoors Issue tackles the marvelous spectacle of urban wildlife. Naturally, that includes God's most majestic creature, the yellow-bellied marmot. Marmots that live in urban environments are unheard of in most cities across the United States, but in Spokane, the creatures have presumably been attracted enough by our low cost of living and thriving downtown to move to the city.

As a general rule, the best places to look for marmots are near rivers, by big piles of rocks. But if you want a few specific places to look for marmots, we're here to help. Here are a few of my favorite marmot-spotting spots near downtown Spokane:

Sometimes these marmots pop out of the big boulders like a game of Whack-A-Mole. Other times they stand still against the skyline, like silent protectors. If you're lucky, you can spot three or more lounging on a single group of rocks, or streaking across the dirt field to duck under the big shipping containers.

Notice how some of these marmots have luscious coats worthy of  Cruella de Vil's Marmot signature collection, while others look like scraggly river rats?

Elizabeth Addis, assistant professor of biology at Gonzaga University, has studied urban marmots and offers an explanation for the variance.

"The ones that didn’t have any fur were parasitized by skin mites," Addis says "They also had lower levels of triglycerides."

Triglycerides are found in fat, meaning the marmots with the gorgeous coats generally have better diets.

Burlington Northern tracks, near Sprague Pest Solutions

These marmots have a burrow in the sandy embankment below the railroad tracks. The trains rumbling past don't seem to bother them.




A small family of marmots lives near the homeless encampment in the empty lot next to the Centennial Trail near Bridge Avenue. A few weeks ago, one of the marmot pups turned up dead, right outside the marmot burrow. Addis, the Gonzaga biology professor, suspects it was killed by a dog. But look at the marmot's surviving family: Is it just anthropomorphism, or do they look like they're grieving the death of a child?