Yellow-bellied marmots are alpine specialists who typically live high in the mountains. But recently, two of the furry rodents were spotted much closer to sea level in the San Francisco Bay Area—and wildlife officials are trying to figure out how they got there.
The marmot mystery began September 5, when one of the species was discovered in the city’s Mission District. After San Francisco Animal Care and Control started getting calls from residents of the historic neighborhood, the nonprofit Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue sprang into action to help the out-of-place critter.
“When the first marmot came in, we couldn’t believe our eyes,” Rae Paoletta, development coordinator for the rescue organization, tells the Reno Gazette Journal’s Siobhan McAndrew. “A marmot in the middle of San Francisco is not something you expect to see.”…