Yellow-bellied Marmot Pup Warming Up On The Rocks

Yellow-bellied Marmot pup warming up on some rocks – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/4000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The last couple of times I have gone out looking for birds I have also been keeping an eye out for Yellow-bellied Marmots because they will soon be awakening from their long hibernation and will be coming out of their burrows to welcome the warmth of spring. I loved finding this Yellow-bellied Marmot pup resting on these rocks.

Yellow-bellied Marmots are also called “Whistle Pigs” and “Rock Chucks” so I have to wonder should I call their pups “Whistle Piglets” and “Rock Chucklets” or just call them cute and adorable? They definitely are cute and adorable but I kind of like the name “Rock Chucklets” and it rolls of my tongue rather nicely too.

Last year I had several opportunities to photograph adult Yellow-bellied Marmots with their pups and I enjoyed every minute I spent with them especially when I was able to share them with my mother when she visited me here in Utah last May. I can barely wait to see and photograph them again.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to see more of my Yellow-bellied Marmot photos plus facts and information about this species.

Because of rain, snow, clouds and generally poor weather for bird photography I haven’t been out in the field in a while, to say that I have cabin fever is putting it mildly because I am aching to get back out in the field. But it might be a good thing that I have been at home because of the weather because I have been having problems with my computer and the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). After spending hours (and hours) running scans, performing all kinds of tests and updating drivers I narrowed the issues down some bloatware that came with my graphics card and some problems caused by my Bluetooth mouse.  I uninstalled that bloatware, started using a wireless mouse and I think I finally got rid of those frustrating blue screens. Time will tell.