Marmots painted in watercolour and pen brush in my watercolour sketchbook.

Marmots can be seen in our region in the Mercantour National Park, North of the French Riviera running along the border with Italy. Marmots typically live in burrows, and hibernate there through the winter. Burrows can be as deep as 7 meters (22 feet).

They generally begin hibernating in late September and survive entirely on their fat reserves accumulated during the Summer.

They emerge through the snow in April and early May (now), during which time there may be nothing to eat, and when they are especially vulnerable to predators..