How much rock could a Rock Chuck chuck, if a Rock Chuck could chuck rocks? 

     I'm very sorry, but I thought the preceding line was very funny, as it's a variation on a childhood rhyme that made me smile.  But, the answer is of course none, because Rock Chucks can't chuck rocks, or I would've been beaned long ago.  

     Rock Chuck, or as their known, Yellow-bellied Marmot, are common throughout the western Rock Chuck, Yellow-bellied Marmot, Wind River Canyon, WyomingYellow-bellied Marmot, known as the Rock Chuck in Wyoming, Photographed @ Wind River Canyon. United States; you can find them most any sunny day from April through September, sitting on a rock!  They are actually related to Chipmunks and Prairie Dogs, as they're all related to the ground squirrel.  They are large (11 plus pounds), brown and hairy with a reddish tail, white between the eyes on mature animals, with a black nose and a little ring around the snoot; and a yellow furred belly (hence the name).  They have short legs, and can stand upright, but don't be deceived by this chubby rodent, they are very fast and can disappear in a blink of an eye.  

     The Rock Chuck can live to be fifteen years old, with females having 3 to 5 young ones a Spring from their second year.  Males typically have a harem of up to 4 females, and they all live in social colonies of 20 or more.  If you start doing the math in your head quickly, you can see that without predators we can all soon be up to our tookis in Yellow-bellied Marmots; hence the problem, as people don't like predators.  A Google search will reveal a host of pictures of them being shot to pieces, and I'm sorry about that, too.  But, I used to tell the tourists that they'll dig a big hole and your house will fall in; that's a bit of a stretch with the facts, but not much.

     You see, their daily use den will typically be a meter deep, but their hibernation den may be 23 feet deep!  I had several underneath my shed that dug the place up, and was impossible to get rid of them; they are after all just rodents; really big rodents....about the size of New York rats I hear. 

     That's funny Wyoming humor, but we shoot our rodent problems in the West, as the aforesaid Google search will show.  Yes, in a perfect world they'd be hunted by the Mountain Lions that live unseen in the high reaches of the Wind River Canyon, but they're smart enough to stay away from human habitation.  So, the Rock Chuck is shot and run over at every opportunity.  They are supposed to be edible, as an old Indian told me recently; but no, I haven't had one, and I'm sure they don't taste like chicken.  

     This week's photograph of a Yellow-bellied Marmot was taken less than 40 yards from our cabin just two days ago.  It was taken with an L-series Canon lens and extender combination that the sensor sees as 672mm on my 7D, and hand-held.  The Rock Chucks have a whistle, and a slang name of "Whistle Pigs"; so I just whistled to get his attention.  And remember to keep your camera ready.