What Animal Is a Marmot and a Detailed Explanation of Its Management Techniques

The marmot is actually what we call the groundhog, with two large front teeth that leave a deep impression, and a rather peculiar call that netizens often imitate. The marmot's unique appearance makes many people interested in it; in fact, it is a type of the squirrel family (Sciuridae). Let us take a look below at what animal a marmot is and what its key management techniques are.

I. What animal is a marmot?

The marmot, commonly known as “hala”, is a herbivorous animal that mainly lives on grasslands. Individual marmots vary considerably with age and season, and their weight ranges from a few jin to several dozen jin. The marmot is a hibernating animal, usually hibernating in its burrow from October each year to April of the following year.

The marmot is rather plain-looking, with a broad, short head, small round ears, fairly short limbs and a stout body. Its appearance and looks really cannot compare with the nimble, lively, elegant and cute little squirrel. Therefore people do not dote on it, and the marmot can only live on grasslands, rocks and open fields far from humans, becoming an outcast of humankind.

But the marmot is a very self-sacrificing animal; the female marmot in particular can even be called the greatest and most selfless female in the animal kingdom.

II. What are the key management techniques for marmots?

1. The breeding site must be dry and well ventilated

The very name marmot indicates that they live in dry and well-ventilated places, so when we build a breeding site for marmots we must also take care not to choose a place that is too damp or has a lot of uneven ground. We must ensure that the area near the breeding site is very quiet, with no noise, and not close to other breeding sites; it must be far from factories, urban areas and other noisy places. We must prevent marmots from being frightened during breeding, as this would be bad for their growth. They must not be mixed with other animals when being bred, as marmots are somewhat aggressive, and mixing them would easily reduce our economic returns.

We can plan the breeding well according to the expected number of animals. We can first arrange two rows; we control the depth of the cellar according to the local weather conditions, the frozen soil layer and other factors. We must ensure that every marmot has sufficient space to move around. We should set the exit at a place about 18 cm above the ground, and we should not use easily rotted materials for the foundation. We can build a large activity room for the marmots on the ground so that they can get plenty of sunlight and eat. Because they have a habit of digging, we must dig ditches well between the activity room and the cellar, and remember to seal them tightly with cement to prevent them from escaping.

2. Feeding

The marmot is a typical herbivorous animal. When we raise them we can feed them with forage, and the feed can be grains such as wheat. The marmot's appetite is not large, but when eating they need many meals, so the choice of marmot feed is very important. We must pay attention to the quality of the feed and absolutely must not choose moldy or spoiled feed, otherwise they will develop gastrointestinal diseases and fall ill, which is very bad for their growth. Also remember to feed them fresh feed as much as possible, as this helps maintain comprehensive nutrition.

3. Disease prevention and control

The marmot's disease resistance can be said to be relatively strong, but if management is poor some diseases will still appear. We must manage their feed well and disinfect the places where they live, to prevent any place from carrying pathogens, and reduce the incidence of disease in marmots so as to avoid accidental losses.