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Help choose the biggest ‘it squirrels’ of the year for Fat Marmot Week
This marmot's name is Open Kite. Researchers say this "girl boss" didn't have a mate this year, so she "was able to allocate all of her energy to self-maintenance."
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Courtesy Dan Blumstein/UCLA
)
The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory may run the second-longest study of individually identifiable mammals in the world, but they’re not afraid of trying something new.
The lab is launching a bracket-style competition, Fat Marmot Week, for people all over the world to vote for their favorite chunky ground squirrel.
The UCLA researchers who work there have faced a loss of federal funding in recent years, so they’re now pursuing creative fundraising efforts, including a (G-rated) OnlyFans account for marmot content called OnlyMarms and a meme coin created by supporters of the project.
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Where the idea came from
Dan Blumstein, a UCLA ecology and evolutionary biology professor who came up with OnlyMarms, said he’s wanted to do a Fat Marmot Week ever since the success of Fat Bear Week, in which the public votes on grizzly bears bulking up for the winter in Alaska. But it took two of his graduate researchers, Katie Adler and Emily Renkey, along with another volunteer who helps with logistics, to see it to fruition.
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“ Science isn't just writing the papers, it's also the communication side of things,” said Adler, who’s also the lab’s field team leader.
Like bears, marmots prepare for the winter by fattening up, with some more than doubling in weight from about 5.5 pounds to as much as 13. But unlike bears, marmots are true hibernators. For months, their body temperature drops very low, and they breathe and have a heartbeat about once a minute. (Blumstein described a hibernating marmot as “sort of a fuzzy stone.”)
These two specimens are called Dawn and Dan's Hat.
(
Courtesy Dan Blumstein/UCLA
)
Adler said she likes highlighting what makes the portly rodents interesting, which is harder “ when you're covered in marmot poop and sweating your butt off.”
“I think it’s fun to think of this from an outside perspective – why do we like marmots and how can we share that with other people?” Rankey said.
Marmot fun facts
LAist asked the UCLA researchers about their favorite marmot trivia. Here’s what they said:
- ”They get all of their water from plants,” Adler said. “ That's why they can live in these huge meadows that don't have running water near them.”
- “They can run like 20 miles an hour,” Adler said.
- Physiologically speaking, “aging declines or flattens out during hibernation,” Blumstein said.
- “Other species listen to their alarm calls,” Blumstein said. “They provide information for the meadows.”
- ”Pups triple their mass between coming out of the burrow and going back in for hibernation, which is pretty insane,” Renkey said. “They're impressive eaters.”
About the marmots
The marmots are all given names to help tell them apart based on markings the researchers dye on their fur.
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Their names range from Dawn, who is reportedly a “a very special boy who enjoys the taste of rocks,” to a “proud mama” named 1 and a “girl boss” with no mate named Open Kite.
“Our parties are quite boring to other people because all we do is talk about the marmots,” Blumstein said. “It's a soap opera.”
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Funding troubles
Faced with federal funding cuts, Blumstein realized he had to get creative in order to keep research going, starting with the OnlyMarms account.
But he said he wasn’t expecting the “extraordinary” response – the meme coin has made more than $100,000 in transaction fees, though it’s still short of the $225,000 to $300,000 they need to fundraise to bring in another graduate student for further research.
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Blumstein said while all funding is welcome, including the OnlyMarms subscriptions, it’s much easier for them to accept direct donations for tax purposes. The money will go to support researchers like Renkey and Adler’s contributions to the nearly 65 years of marmot research at the lab.
How to support the lab
The tournament
Eight competitors will face off — five females and three males. There’ll also be a “true” winner who’s announced at the end based on the lab’s measurements on which marmot gained the most weight this spring and summer.
The first round of voting will be Monday, Aug. 24, followed by the semifinals on Wednesday, Aug. 26, and the final showdown on Friday, Aug. 28. Voting runs from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. PDT.
“Everyone should vote. It's very exciting,” Renkey said. “They're huge this summer.”
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
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