Romsilva representatives have published funny images of three marmots caught, to everyone’s delight, in a play session in the heat of the sun in Retezat.
“Marmots are, by definition, diurnal mammals, that is, they carry out their activities only during the day. In fact, there is no other mountain mammal that loves sunny days more than marmots, who take full advantage of every ray of sunshine,” Romsilva representatives wrote on a social network.
“Marmots are mammals of the rodent family squirrels, of large size, having a length of up to 60 centimeters and a weight of up to 7 kilograms. They have a heavy body, with short limbs, for this reason they have shelters near food sources”, added Romsilva representatives.
Marmots dig shelters with multiple entrances
They dig multi-entrance shelters of intricate structure with deep summer and winter galleries when hibernating. Marmots feed on grasses, weeds, roots and occasionally insects, according to Romsilva.
The friendly rodents mate in the spring as soon as they emerge from hibernation, and after a gestation period of 33-34 days, the females give birth to between 2-7 blind, naked and helpless pups, which are weaned at 40 days of age, becoming independent at the end cousins
Where do marmots live?
In Europe, marmots live in alpine hollow areas in the Alps, Pyrenees, Tatra and Carpathians in Romania. In our country, they are constantly expanding their range.
In the Retezat National Park we find 108 species of birds and 1,190 species of plants, of which 90 are endemic species. There are 80 lakes in the natural protected area, including Lake Bucura, the largest glacial lake in the country, and Lake Zănoaga, the deepest glacial lake in Romania.