Tweeters,



It doesn't surprise me too much that there is a Yellow-bellied Marmot in
Discovery Park. For several years, there was an active colony of
Yellow-bellied Marmots in North Vancouver, BC, near the north end of the
Second Narrows Bridge. This colony almost certainly arose from a deliberate
release of two or more marmots by someone.



The colony eventually disappeared as a result of a commercial development
which took over the land, but people were concerned enough about the marmots
that there was an effort to capture them and move them back to the BC
Interior (where, however, many consider them a pest).



As Kelly McAllister notes, there seems to be no limit to the number of
exotic animals (and plants) that some misguided people are willing to
liberate in our area.



Wayne C. Weber

Delta, BC

contopus at telus.net











From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Zuckerbond
Sent: April-05-08 4:34 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: [Tweeters] Marmot confirmed!



Yes, Kelly, there really is a Discovery Park Marmot. We saw Penny's email,
and headed right over to the park in Magnolia. The Marmot was sunning itself
on top of the rocks along the south beach path that goes from the parking
spaces to the Lighthouse, W of the big Cottonwoods. If anyone knows why a
Marmot lives there, I'd be happy to hear about it.



Walking along the path above the north beach, between the lighthouse and the
pond, we saw at least 2 male Mountain Bluebirds and 3 females, a Say's
Phoebe, a Lincoln Sparrow, Yellow-rumped Warblers; Gadwalls and Shovelers in
the pond; and ~30 Sanderlings along the beach.



Highly Recommended!



Mary Bond

Seattle, WA