What the heck is a Marmot?
I didn't see this before.
Marmots are
dead, if I'm armed.
They are NOT native to my area, and my grandfather had a massive infestation about 20 years ago (
yellow-bellied marmots). He had one mal-formed, mutant male that was absolutely, completely unafraid of humans. It was straight out of a horror movie... Huge, untrimmed claws; nasty, outrageously long teeth; massive body; and more than 4 times the normal size of the species. It would climb walls, charge humans, and kill cats for fun.
We didn't know what it was at the time, but it whistled when it was calling to others. As such... we started calling the whole species "Whistling Guinea Pigs" (something I've heard used for other creatures, in other parts of the country, since - and "Whistle Pig" is actually the official nick name for the species {who knew..?}). One day, the mutant tried to bite the horse my aunt was riding (ridiculous thought, I know). It bucked her off, and she ended up with a badly broken wrist.
My grandpa issued a no-holds-barred, kill-on-site order. It was time for a war. We summoned the available forces (uncles, aunts, nephews, nieces, husbands, wives, and even some unrelated friends).
Within a six week period, we slaughtered more than 150 of the things, covered more than 500 acres (my grandpa's land, and adjacent farm property - with permission), and forced a localized extinction. ...We thought...
The final "pig" to die, was the mutant. Early one morning, we saw it on top of the horse barn. A 150gr Bronze Point struck it in the chest, launched from a .30-06. It tumbled off the roof, and ran into the grain field.
Some hours later, the posse was ready to move out. A 'Search and Destroy' mission located the offending party in an abandoned fox den. It took more than 40 rounds of .22 LR, .223 Rem, .270 Win, .30-06, .375 H&H, and 12ga to put that mal-formed mutant down.
Victory, at last.
In areas they are not native to, Marmots are incredibly destructive. They undermine roads, dig through foundations (concrete! how? it's concrete!?), eat desirable plants, chew fence posts, and breed like rabbits.
Like I said - When I am armed, Marmots are dead.