Marmot in the city: New resident of North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale a 'rock star rodent'
When Les Robertson was walking home from the gym in North Vancouver's Lower Lonsdale neighbourhood three weeks ago, he did a double take. Standing near a burrow it had dug in a vacant lot near East 1st Street and St. Georges Avenue was a yellow-bellied marmot.
"I thought it was a groundhog at first,” said Robertson. “Then I figured out it’s a marmot.”
He pulled out his cellphone and shot video of the large rodent, and a friend posted it to social media. And that’s how the marmot became a neighbourhood sensation, attracting what Robertson describes as “wildlife paparazzi.”
“I guess because of its rarity, that’s what we figured out. So we named him. Turns out, he’s not the first marmot named Morty,” Robertson joked.
“Everyone seems to know about it, and is quite excited about it,” said Angela Negenman, the City of North Vancouver’s environmental co-ordinator.
“For me, it's been a great learning experience because it’s definitely not something I would typically deal with in the environment on the North Shore.”
Yellow-bellied marmots are known to live in the B.C. Interior. But it’s incredibly rare for one to turn up in Metro Vancouver, let alone in the middle of a busy commuter hub like Lower Lonsdale.
“I wish I knew what his story was. Like, how did he get here? And when?” said Negenman.
Robertson theorizes Morty rode the rails to North Vancouver on a train.
“It's possible it could have hitchhiked, so on the back of a pickup truck or something like that, and found some nice habitat to call home,” said Negenman.
The adventurous marmot likely went unnoticed until the city cleared heavy underbrush on the vacant lot, exposing the animal’s deep burrow.
“So once we knew that this was the case, the project was shut down immediately and I’ve been monitoring it since,” said Negenman.
Now that the lot has been cleared, Morty’s burrow is easer for dogs to spot, and sniff.
“The concern is that a dog or coyote may get the marmot, and we don’t want that to happen,” she added.
The city is reluctant to trap and relocate the marmot, so it’s hoped Morty will move to the city-owned lot right next door, where a boarded up house still stands, and a fence will keep the dogs away.
“There is no plans for this land now, so if we can give some access and habitat to a marmot … if it can have a happy home there? Absolutely,” said Negenman.
Robertson, who hasn’t seen Morty in days, believes that’s already happened.
“He’s moved on,” he said. “He’s found a better burrow.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Galen Weston pushes back on 'misguided criticism' of Loblaw as boycott begins
Loblaw chairman Galen Weston, as well as the company's new chief executive, pushed back on what they called 'misguided criticism' of the grocer as a boycott against the company gains steam online.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
'Giant-killer' Kazushi Kimura to race in Kentucky Derby this weekend: 'I'm representing Canada and Japan'
Six years ago, at age 18, Kazushi Kimura left his home and family behind in Hokkaido, Japan to chase a dream. This weekend, he'll ride in the Kentucky Derby.
Quebec premier asks police to dismantle camp at McGill University
Quebec Premier Francois Legault has called on the police to dismantle the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the lower field of McGill University's downtown campus in Montreal.
Orangutan observed treating wound using medicinal plant in world first
Scientists working in Indonesia have observed an orangutan intentionally treating a wound on their face with a medicinal plant, the first time this behavior has been documented.
TD Bank hit with $9.2M penalty after failing to report suspicious transactions
Canada’s financial-crime watchdog has levied a $9.2-million penalty against The Toronto-Dominion Bank for non-compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing measures as the bank also faces compliance investigations in the U.S.
Doctors concerned about potential spread of bird flu in Canada
H5N1 or avian flu has been detected at dozens of U.S. dairy farms and Canadian experts are urging surveillance on our side of the border too.