Alpine Marmot
The alpine marmot, specifically located in the alpine areas of central Europe, the Austrian Alps. This breed of marmot has behavioural traits that are unique and not seen in other species. With the aid of their incredible digging skills, they hibernate for approximately 9 months of the year. To help survive 9 months of sleeping the marmot will eat up to 4 times what it usually does at the end of August through to September, in order to build up a think layer of fat. If this fat layer is too thin the Marmots will starve to death. This lever little creature also gather large amounts of plant matter, this being leaves, straw, rushes and old stems from plants and trees. This fills their deep burrows and makes a layer of bedding, which along with the fat on their bodies keeps them very warm when they start hibernating in October. See map which shows the complexity of the marmot burrowing system! Burrowing starts in September also, the dig deep down under the ground, making room for up to 30 marmots, the whole colony hibernates together. Other colonies burrow near by and usually connect their burrows with a series of small tunnels. Tunnels for sleeping in, bathroom tunnels and spare rooms for guests!!! The behaviours outline above are a mixture of inate and learned behaviours. Innate means that the animal is born with the knowledge, and despite changes in their external environment, all the Alpine marmots exhibit th same behaviours. Whereas Learned behaviours mean that they are not born with the knowledge, they are taught it, through experiences and parental guidance. These very social creature also work in groups to create the elaborate burrows ready for the hibernation period. Without these useful behavioural adaptations, the Alpine Marmot would possible be extinct, due to the harsh weather that is thrown at it during the cold winter months high up on the Austrian Alps. People and scientist in particular love to study animal behaviour because it plays a huge role in adaptions of all living organisms. Behaviour is how everything is defined, it is how everything interacts with its environment. Alpine Marmots, in particular are studied frequently, firstly because of their in need of conservation and secondly because they have such unusual and very unique behavioural traits and adaptations. They are studied and monitored closely with the help of many volunteers and experienced scientist. Marmots are captured using traps to take back to zoos and labs for testing and check up. Tagging and marking, so their progress can be monitored from back at the lab. Biometric measuring and sampling, this involves sedating the mammal, weighing, measuring and sexing the animal to get a better understanding of them. Finally, groups of people go into their habitat and observe these creatures and their day to day behaviour. This all combines to give a better understanding of how they process and survive so well in the harsh conditions in which they live in. |