Yellow-bellied marmots, commonly known as rockchucks, are a common sight for people heading to the Old Mill District in Bend in the summer.

They scamper around the rock wall along Bond Street near the Reed Market Road roundabout, grazing on the grass and occasionally snacking on the flowers planted nearby. Motorists, pedestrians and cyclists heading into Bend’s iconic riverside shopping district can’t help but see the sometimes plump marmots as they nibble grass by the roadside.

The omnivorous critters are ground squirrels, the largest such species in Oregon. They make burrows beneath the rocks, but these plump rodents — 4 to 12 pounds — are commonly seen scampering around grassy areas, too. They are most active in the early morning and evening, according to wildlife experts, and rest in their burrows during the hottest part of day. While they are foraging, one or two individuals will watch out for danger while the rest of the community — around 20 marmots — feed, groom or rest.

Beau Eastes, marketing director for the Old Mill District, has worked there for a little over six years and has become well acquainted with the marmots when commuting to work.

“I think they’re cute; they’re active, and they are a part of wildlife down here,” Eastes said. “It’s just pretty special that you’re right in urban areas … and you also get that wildlife perspective too.”

Why do rockchucks like the Old Mill District?

Jon Nelson, wildlife curator at the High Desert Museum, said that the rockchucks in Bend are unusual compared to other yellow-bellied marmots. Usually the animals would be found in high-elevation mountainous areas, typically above 6,000 feet.

The Old Mill District’s rocky terrain creates perfect places for the animals to claim as a home.

“They’re living in our volcanic geology and rock crevices,” Nelson said. “… The reason that they’re able to live at lower elevation here is because of our irrigating.”

Aaron Rutledge, a staff member at the Think Wild Rehabilitation Center, thinks the well landscaped areas are what draw the rockchucks out to the urban areas.

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“They probably just think it’s a delicious, huge green lawn at the bottom,” Rutledge said. “So it’s really kind of a marmot paradise.”

Changing hibernation habits

The marmots’ selection of a lower-elevation living space has caused some interest in academic circles.

“There’s a colony up at Sparks Lake there that has been there for some time,” Nelson said. “But there’s been some changes in where they live in Central Oregon over the years.”

Researchers have seen the effects of the changes mainly related to hibernation habits.

Marmots usually hibernate from late September to April and come out to enjoy the Central Oregon sun once it starts to get warmer. However, Nelson said that people have seen some marmots start hibernating as early as August and come out of their burrows as early as December.

Are rockchucks pests?

Rockchucks have been known to damage earthen structures with their burrows, and in Central Oregon have been responsible for the closure of at least one school playground.

Think Wild gets calls for rockchucks all the time, but there is not much they can do about them.

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The landscape of a yard is a factor in where marmots will set up house. If there are big rock piles that look attractive to a marmot, it will gladly become a resident.

Think Wild can offer some of its resources by doing exclusion work such as putting up fences, but oftentimes that’s still not enough.

“They’re just so good at burrowing that any kind of trying to put out wire mesh, or anything like that, they can just so easily get around it,” Rutledge said.

Using poison to get rid of the rockchucks is not recommended, Nelson said, mainly because of the effects it has on other parts of the High Desert ecosystem.

“Something like a golden eagle will happily scavenge on a dead marmot, and if that has been poisoned, the eagle will also be poisoned,” Nelson said.

Can you feed them? Interacting with the marmots is strongly discouraged. Nelson said that touching or feeding any wild animal will get them into more trouble than people realize. While having marmots in your backyard might be annoying, Nelson reiterated that they are harmless.

“Peoples concerns about rockchucks are pretty irrational and overblown,” Nelson said. “They’re not a bad thing to have in your backyard. I tell people to enjoy the wildlife.”

If you are wanting to keep your flowers or garden beds intact and away from marmots, make sure you leave no trace behind when having barbecues or eating outside.

“They’re also opportunistic and will absolutely steal any sort of food that’s left out,” Rutledge said. “Even if there’s a lot of feed falling under your bird feeders, they will absolutely love that and be happy to clean it up for you but also take residence on your property.”

How long do they live? Marmots can live up to 15 years, but Rutledge said that’s usually in a zoo or care-taking setting. He believes they will only live up to around eight years in the wild.

Being a wildlife advocate himself, Rutledge reminds community members that the animals were here first and when encountering them to think about how Bend was their home first.

“I do get a lot of requests to get rid of or remove things,” Rutledge said. “Maybe it’s just a pet peeve of language, but I always just kind of feel like we built our homes on top of theirs. We can’t be totally surprised when we have critters in our space.”