This little guy / gal was extraordinarily brave as compared to most of its species. With humans photographing Mountain Goats just feet away, it was quite curious about the goings on. More than once it would pop out right among the people, look around, then go for a walk, seemingly uncaring about all the larger creatures nearby.

One for Marmot Monday, something I haven’t done in quite a while.

This weekend we went up Mount Evans, our first trip of the season. As always it was breathtaking and the wildlife abundant. These little guys provided a good dose of entertainment as we watched dozens of them in various locations along the slopes above timberline. This particular one was quite curious about my wife and I as we crouched down to snap its picture.

These mountain residents prefer high altitudes and rocky slopes for their homes. Yellow Bellied Marmots can be found across many parts of the western United States and southern Canada. Much of their life is spent in their burrows where they hibernate for as much as eight months out of the year.

On a visit to Mount Evans, Colorado this past summer, I kept seeing movement in a nearby talus field out of the corner of my eye. Every time I would focus my attention on it, whatever it was, would seemingly disappear. The game was on!

I crouched down, ‘crab walked’ closer, doing my best to stay low and out of site. Then, there it was! This little guy / gal pops up to check on me. Once it realized just how close I was it quickly retreated but not before letting me grab a few pictures.

Sometimes called a ‘rock chuck’, Yellow-bellied Marmots are actually members of the squirrel family. They are found above 6,500 feet in grassland, meadows and talus fields. Here in Colorado you are most likely to spot them above timberline sunning themselves on rocks.

These little guys are busily fattening themselves up and stashing food for the coming winter. It has been unseasonably warm across much of Colorado in recent weeks but there are signs things are changing. A cold front moving through this weekend may deliver some snow to the residences of some of these high-altitude creatures.

Sometimes called a ‘rock chuck’, Yellow-bellied Marmots are actually members of the squirrel family. They are found above 6,500 feet in grassland, meadows and talus fields. Here in Colorado you are most likely to spot them above timberline sunning themselves on rocks.

My first pictures of one of these little guys this season. I had a great photo trip Saturday that took me to the top of the 14,130-foot-high Mount Evans. The wildlife was abundant and active, including this guy that almost seemed to be auditioning for a photo shoot. It gave me a number of great poses, including this one with a somewhat coy look on its face. Very cute!

Sometimes called a ‘rock chuck’, Yellow-bellied Marmots are actually members of the squirrel family. They are found above 6,500 feet in grassland, meadows and talus fields. Here in Colorado you are most likely to spot them above timberline sunning themselves on rocks.

So Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this morning which means six more weeks of winter. His cousins here in the Rocky Mountains probably are less than thrilled to hear that given the copious amounts of snow that have fallen this season on their homes.

This Yellow-bellied Marmot was high on top Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park back in July. Needless to say conditions then were far different than what they are enduring up there on Groundhog Day today. Our marmots are indeed cousins to the groundhogs back in Pennsylvania although the environment in which they live is quite different.

This little guy was doing his best to hide from me but just couldn’t resist popping up to see who was intruding on his domain. I was ready and snapped a couple of images before it retreated back to its burrow.

Taken back in August, the scene at 12,000 feet where this image was taken is undoubtedly much different now and these guys are prepared to weather the harsh, high altitude winter.

Sometimes called a ‘rock chuck’, Marmots are actually members of the squirrel family. They are found above 6,500 feet in grassland, meadows and talus fields. Here in Colorado you are most likely to spot them above timberline sunning themselves on rocks.

If you like to sleep, you might wish you were a marmot. Yellow bellied marmots spend 80% of their lives in their burrows, 60% of which is spent sleeping. Taken in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.