Marmot

Around the refuge of Les Bans, the marmot observes visitors as much as they observe it! Its main strategy in the face of predators (golden eagle, fox, etc.) is to seek refuge in its burrow. It lives in a family, made up of a pair of dominant adults and subordinates from successive litters. Grooming, games and fights ensure group cohesion and respect for hierarchy. Everyone helps to mark out the territory by depositing faeces or urine at the borders and rubbing their cheeks against the rocks to leave their scent. The marmot is a wild, herbivorous animal. Feeding it causes it to adopt behaviours that run counter to the instinctive reactions that usually protect it.