{"id":79030,"date":"2021-02-08T05:56:33","date_gmt":"2021-02-08T12:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=79030"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:35:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T23:35:18","slug":"yellow-bellied-marmot-that-should-be-hibernating","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/02\/08\/yellow-bellied-marmot-that-should-be-hibernating\/","title":{"rendered":"Yellow-bellied Marmot That Should Be Hibernating"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot on a rocky slope in February \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Yellow-bellied Marmot in these photos should be hibernating until mid-March. I spotted it wide awake yesterday on a rocky slope in northern Utah. Typically I start seeing Yellow-bellied Marmots around the middle of March at lower elevations so finding this male wide awake was quite a surprise for me.<\/p>\n

I may have seen two individual marmots yesterday. I saw one closer to the road but I wasn’t able to photograph it. While I was waiting to see if that marmot would pop back up on the top of the rocks when I saw the marmot that is in these photos. I can’t say with any certainty that the marmot in my photos is or isn’t the first one I found.<\/p>\n

April Olson also found a Yellow-bellied Marmot awake and above the ground yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> which is many miles away from where I found the one in my images.<\/p>\n

\"Yellow-belliedYellow-bellied Marmot above ground way too early in winter \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/3200, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

We have had a warmer than normal winter in Salt Lake City where the temperature reached the mid 50’s the day before I found this marmot and they reached that high yesterday too. The temps where I photographed the marmot I found yesterday average slightly lower due to its more northerly latitude.<\/p>\n

I don’t know if our marmots in northern Utah are coming out of hibernation early because of our warmer than normal temps, if it is because they are hungry, or if they are awake because they are ill.<\/p>\n

It might even be a combination of any of those three causes. What I do know is that it isn’t normal at all to see these marmots above the ground in early February even at the lower elevations of northern Utah.<\/p>\n

Our marmots should be in their hibernating in their burrows.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Confusing at times, but 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","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Yellow-bellied Marmot in these photos should be hibernating until mid-March. I spotted it wide awake yesterday on a rocky slope in northern Utah.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":171430,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,26,99,231],"tags":[4004,11002,4098,11003,5700,3291,1632,5854,2241,4984,4069,4470,5699,5697,6455,11001,373,4029],"class_list":["post-79030","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-awake","tag-desert","tag-hibernating","tag-hibernation","tag-lichen","tag-mammals","tag-marmot","tag-marmota-flaviventris","tag-marmots","tag-mountains","tag-rocks","tag-rocky","tag-rodents","tag-slope","tag-too-early","tag-winter","tag-yellow-bellied-marmot"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-too-early-mia-mcpherson-1763.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-kyG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":103279,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/06\/14\/yellow-bellied-marmot-photos-from-the-uinta-mountains\/","url_meta":{"origin":79030,"position":0},"title":"Yellow-bellied Marmot Photos From The Uinta Mountains","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"June 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I showed my friend Steve Mirror Lake Highway in the Uinta Mountains and I was able to put him on a lifer Yellow-bellied Marmot.","rel":"","context":"In "Summit County"","block_context":{"text":"Summit County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/summit-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yellow-bellied Marmot in the Uinta Mountains, Uinta National Forest, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/yellow-bellied-marmot-adult-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/yellow-bellied-marmot-adult-high-uintas-mia-mcpherson-6362.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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McPherson","date":"April 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I get excited to see and photograph my first Yellow-bellied Marmots of the years, sunning on rocks, scurrying along a hillside, nibbling on fresh spring grasses or calling out an alarm because a raptor is flying overhead.","rel":"","context":"In "Box Elder County"","block_context":{"text":"Box Elder County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/box-elder-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Yellow-bellied Marmot, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-resting-mia-mcpherson-0260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/yellow-bellied-marmot-resting-mia-mcpherson-0260.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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