An Airdrie, Alta., man and his family got quite the surprise last week when they discovered a marmot confidently exploring their garage. Chris Ratzlaff says it was his kid who first noticed the large rodent and came into the house to tell his dad. After being alerted to the animal, Ratzlaff entered the detached garage to find the startled creature knocking things over as it scrambled to conceal itself. “It was hiding in a corner, and at first I thought it was maybe a porcupine, so I left the garage door open for it to leave,” Ratzlaff said. “When it left, we could see that it was a marmot.” Ratzlaff thinks the marmot was a stowaway that hitched a ride on his vehicle, which he had driven back from Kananaskis on Tuesday morning. “We suspect she was somewhere in the engine compartment,” he said. “There’s a skid plate under the engine that would be a great spot for it to ride.” “I’m imagining the scene from ‘Mission Impossible,’ where Tom Cruise is holding onto the side of an airplane,” he joked. Spotted in the neighbourhood After letting the marmot make her way out of the garage, Ratzlaff says Facebook posts began popping up reporting sightings throughout his community. On Saturday, the wayward marmot returned to Ratzlaff’s garage. “It was open while we were outside doing yard work,” he explained. At that time, Ratzlaff closed the garage door to keep the animal contained and reached out to the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (CWRS). The wildlife group sent a team to retrieve the rodent. While awaiting their arrival, Ratzlaff set up a camera in his garage to film the marmot. In the video, she can be seen emerging from under a dark-coloured vehicle and sniffing around, examining Ratzlaff’s video equipment and some snacks set out in an effort to lure her into a large black cage. “It took a bit to catch her,” Ratzlaff said. “She was very good at avoiding the net.” “Since capture, (the CWRS) gave her an exam and let us know that the marmot was a female and is healthy and feisty,” he said. “They’ll release back to where she hitched her ride at some point this week.” Ratzlaff says the CWRS told him marmots are attracted to the minerals in cars and every year some get a ride back to Calgary. To avoid a hitchhiking marmot, CWRS advises people visiting the mountains to bang their hoods and fenders and check engine compartments before leaving the mountains.
