‘Twinkie’-sized newborn creatures were orphaned in Colorado. Watch them grow ‘chunky’
A group of six orphaned newborn creatures bulked up under the care of wildlife officials preparing them for hibernation in Colorado.
And they repaid the officials with a bit of stubborn sass.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife Northeast Region shared the "success story " in an Oct. 2 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
It all started in June, when a pregnant marmot "hitched a ride" down from Mount Blue Sky, an iconic mountain, in the car engine of "an unsuspecting family" and then gave birth in their garage in Lafayette, the agency said.
"A few days later she was unfortunately hit by a car," the agency said. "Enter (Greenwood Wildlife) to take in six newborn marmot pups that, at the time, looked like Twinkies. They have been rehabbing the marmots up to a chunky size and ready for release back into the wild."
Greenwood Wildlife is a nonprofit wildlife rehabilitation organization in Lyons, about a 25-mile drive northwest from the family's home in Lafayette, which is another 25-mile drive north of Denver.
Once it was time for the release, the marmot pups seemed hesitant to leave the comfort of officials' care.
"As we get ready for their release at Staunton, we carry a heavy crate up a hill," the agency said.
A photo and video show officials lugging the rectangular crate up the slope.
"We (chose) a release spot near rock formations and abandoned marmot dens," the agency said. "The marmots who already live at Staunton can be territorial and unwelcoming to newcomers, so we try to place them far enough away to avoid conflict.
"Finally the moment of marmot release with multiple cameras set up to capture the scene," the agency said. "(Greenwood Wildlife) opens the crate and....nothing."
Video shows the marmots popping their heads up to see over the edge of the crate — and then deciding to stay put together inside.
"After chastising them and reminding the marmots that they're embarrassing us on camera, some prodding gets two of the marmots to scatter," the agency said. "The other four marmots are content to live in the crate filled with nuts forever. Ok why don't we take away the crate? They will surely get the message then."
Video shows a wildlife official dumping the marmots and their nuts out of the crate, but the creatures remain in the same spot together where the crate was.
"We try other hazing techniques. Nothing. The marmots took so long we ran out of phone storage space," the agency said.
A video shows officials trying to clap their hands and shooing them to run off into the rocks — to no avail.
"They're just...in a new place, they're scared," someone says off camera.
It seemed to go quite differently from the last time the agency released a marmot in the area back in 2023. The creature sprinted off "majestically" to its new life in the wild, McClatchy News previously reported.
"Did they eventually scatter? Yes and they were unamused the whole time," the agency said. "Thank you to (Greenwood Wildlife) for raising six marmots to a healthy size, ready for hibernation. They just happened to be bratty!"
