{"id":46622,"date":"2017-05-06T05:43:40","date_gmt":"2017-05-06T11:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=46622"},"modified":"2026-03-06T06:32:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T12:32:17","slug":"yellow-bellied-marmot-with-pups","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/06\/yellow-bellied-marmot-with-pups\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied Marmot With Pups"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AdultAdult Yellow-bellied Marmot on the look out – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/400, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday I was able to photograph a Yellow-bellied Marmot with pups, these are photos I have wanted to take for years but until now haven’t been able to create. Every time I have had opportunities to photograph marmot pups before the lighting conditions have been absolutely horrible but yesterday the wildlife photo gods were in my favor.<\/p>\n

I spotted an adult Yellow-bellied Marmot on top of a lichen covered rock and stopped to photograph it. I loved the setting, the light and how well the marmot stood out from the background.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult Yellow-bellied Marmot keeping an eye out for its pups – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/500, ISO 250, -0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the adult marmot gave me a different pose on the rock and I adjusted my composition since the marmot was now looking north instead of south.<\/p>\n

I didn’t know at the time that this marmot was looking out for its pups but I was also keeping an eye out for any movement nearby and that paid off.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot pup near a shallow cave – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 250, -1.0 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because I spotted a Yellow-bellied Marmot pup in front of a shallow cave in the rock face and I was over the moon to finally be able to photograph a marmot pup in decent light.<\/p>\n

The pup was cautious in its movements and sometimes stayed in the shadow of the opening to the cave but when it moved out into the light I was ready.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot pup on a rock face – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 250, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I located another pup and watched and photographed it as it traversed across a rock face towards its sibling.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately the lighting wasn’t great in the shadows of the opening and the images I took of them greeting each other were not great because of the wonky exposure.<\/p>\n

They looked adorable though sniffing each other and being playful. At least I have the visual memories of them interacting with each other.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot pup eating grass – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 250, -1.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

And then a third Yellow-bellied Marmot pup showed up too but it stayed mostly hidden from view and I never got a photo of it without something obstructing my view.<\/p>\n

About that time a Red-tailed Hawk lifted off from a nearby juniper and I heard the marmots whistle and disappear.<\/p>\n

One of the names people have given Yellow-bellied Marmots is “Whistle Pig” because of they whistle when they are alarmed or when there is a predator nearby.<\/p>\n

One of the first two pups showed itself near the entrance to the shallow cave again and started eating some of the grasses growing in between the rocks.<\/p>\n

I was delighted to spend time with this family of Yellow-bellied Marmots<\/span><\/a> yesterday and maybe, just maybe I will see and photograph them again soon.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Yellow-bellied Marmot photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n

Please note that all of these images were taken from within the confines of a vehicle using it as a mobile blind and from a long distance. I would never approach the Yellow-bellied Marmots closely on foot, especially when they have young because it goes against my personal wildlife ethics. They need space and I give that to them, they deserve it.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday I was able to photograph a Yellow-bellied Marmot with pups, these are photos I have wanted to take for years but until now haven’t been able to create.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171256,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1148,26,99,231],"tags":[4004,5857,4286,4070,3747,4109,3291,5771,5856,5854,2241,4984,4107,5855,5858,4470,5869,4029],"class_list":["post-46622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","category-wildlife","category-yellow-bellied-marmots","tag-adult","tag-cave","tag-eating","tag-female","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-lichen","tag-lichen-covered","tag-look-out","tag-marmot","tag-marmota-flaviventris","tag-marmots","tag-pup","tag-pups","tag-rock-face","tag-rocks","tag-yellow-belly-marmot","tag-yellow-bellied-marmot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t