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Fat Marmot Week: Colorado nonprofit asks public to help celebrate ‘one of the Rocky Mountains’ most charismatic residents’
GUNNISON COUNTY, Colo. —
The public is invited to celebrate one of the “Rocky Mountains’ most charismatic residents” in the first-ever Fat Marmot Week.
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory Marmot project kicked off the bracket-style competition Monday.
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The National Park Service said the marmots are one of the largest members of the squirrel family. The animal is related to groundhogs and woodchucks.
The Marmot Project at RMBL, near Crested Butte, Colorado, is one of the world’s longest-running studies of individually marked wild mammals. RMBL said marmots roughly double their body weight as they prepare to hibernate for five months.
“It’s fun to root for the chunkiest marmot,” writes Dan Blumstein, a UCLA professor and co-director of the RMBL Marmot Project. “But behind the fun and games is a deathly serious competition against nature to pile on fat to survive the long, cold winter.”
Fat Marmot Week features eight contestants, including Dandelion, a “shy queen and young mother of six pups,” and G, a “loud and proud” marmot who has a “need for speed.”
Voting opened Monday. Final-round voting takes place Friday, with the “chunky champion” crowned on Saturday. Click here to see the “marms” and choose your favorite.
