Marmots enjoy the sunshine April 19, 2018 outside Kal Tire Place in Vernon.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

VERNON - Marmots sprawl on rocks, nibble at grass and frolic by the creek below. It’s marmot heaven, but not for much longer if the City of Vernon has its way.

The estimated 20 to 30 marmots that have dug in residence outside the city-owned Kal Tire Place property are being evicted because the bushy-faced critters are, simply put, not very good tenants.

Not far from where a yellow-bellied marmot lies sunning itself on a boulder is a live-capture trap, baited with food. There are several of the traps planted along the grass, along with a sign that reads “Don’t feed the marmots.”

The City has hired local wildlife control expert Pete Wise to capture and relocate the marmots. He set up several traps about a week ago-and-a-half ago and says they've been catching them, but there's still lots out there. 

Aside from digging a lot of holes, Wise says marmots pose a threat to anyone parking at Kal Tire Place.

“Anybody parking along there stands the potential to have a marmot go up inside your vehicle. What they do is they chew up all your wires,” he says “They have long teeth and can inflict pretty severe damage.”

Marmots like small spaces and once they’ve crawled up inside a car, it’s no easy feat getting them out, Wise says.

Unlike the Vancouver Island marmot, which is endangered, the Interior’s yellow-bellied marmot is thriving, Wise says. You won’t see them for much of the year — they burrow around the end of August and hibernate until spring — but once they’re up and about, expect to see more of them.

(CHARLOTTE HELSTON - REPORTER / iNFOnews.ca)

“Within a month of being up, the babies are due. Their population will triple,” he says.

He first started trapping marmots last year at Kal Tire Place on the city’s behalf, and estimates as many as 30 were successfully captured and removed from the site. He relocates them within 15 kilometres of the arena, mindful not to release them somewhere they’ll become a problem for somebody else.

But members of the public aren’t making the job any easier. Wise says people are fond of feeding the marmots, which not only gives them a reason to stay, but leaves them less inclined to take the bait in the traps. But that’s not all.

“We’ve actually caught guys releasing them there,” Wise says. “Those dodos catch marmots at their house and are looking for somewhere to relocate them to and they see the ones at Kal Tire Place so they bring them there.”

Wise has contracts to remove marmots up and down the valley, everywhere from cemeteries to golf courses.

Because marmots are mostly active during the daytime, that’s when the traps are set. That also means Wise and his staff have to check the traps frequently throughout the day — every couple of hours — to ensure the marmots don’t overheat in the cages.

“It’s extremely high-maintenance work, it takes a lot of effort and a lot of time,” Wise says.

But, he says the City is saving members of the public who park at the arena from unwanted car trouble.

“I had a marmot cause $7,000 worth of damage in one hour,” Wise says. “I think the City is exercising due diligence in having them removed.”

City of Vernon communications officer Nick Nilsen was unable to provide a cost for the marmot relocation because it is not yet known how many marmots will be removed, or how many man-hours will be involved. He said the funds would come out of the city's pest control budget.

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