Colorado's Fat Marmot Week Celebrates Chubby Rodents

Eight adorable, chunky marmots are competing for the title of Colorado's fattest rodent, and the internet is here for it.

Researchers at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory near Crested Butte launched Fat Marmot Week on August 24, bringing joy to animal lovers while highlighting important conservation work. Voters choose their favorite hefty marmot in a tournament-style bracket, with winners announced at the end of the month.

The competition celebrates yellow-bellied marmots, loaf-sized rodents that live high in the Colorado mountains. These fuzzy creatures spend up to eight months hibernating underground, so packing on pounds during summer isn't just cute—it's survival.

Unlike bears that enter a light sleep called torpor, marmots undergo true hibernation. Their heart rate slows to just a few beats per minute, their body temperature drops to 41 degrees, and they feel like cold rocks with fur when touched.

But climate change threatens these remarkable animals. This past winter, nearly two-thirds of one Colorado marmot population died during hibernation when record-low snowpack left their burrows without crucial insulation.

Scientists have studied these marmots since 1962 in one of the world's longest wildlife studies. They've learned that marmots live in colonies called "madnesses" and earn the nickname "whistle pigs" for their high-pitched warning calls.

The Ripple Effect

To save their research after federal funding cuts, scientists got creative. They launched an OnlyFans account called OnlyMarms, sharing family-friendly marmot videos that raised $6,700.

A marmot-themed cryptocurrency generated another $100,000. A Denver brewery even created OnlyMarms Extra Thicc Double IPA, donating proceeds to the research project.

"It's exasperating to have to go to OnlyFans to raise money for basic long-term ecological research," says ecologist Dan Blumstein. "But it has helped."

The publicity has done more than raise money. It's shown millions of people why long-term ecological research matters, not just for marmots but for understanding how climate change affects all wildlife.

Fat Marmot Week proves that sometimes the best way to tackle serious problems is with a little humor and a lot of heart.