Marmot

MARMOT, tarbagan, Arctomys bobac, a rodent living in steppes, on plains, in low hilly areas, to the south of 55° north latitude (southern regions of the European part of the USSR, southern Siberia, the Amur region). In dense and dry soil, it digs multi-chambered burrows up to 3-6 meters deep. Often a burrow adjoins another burrow and a huge colony of these animals is formed. The marmot is a herbivorous animal. It hibernates for the winter. It is an object of the hunt (meat and fur). It is easily tamed. In Mongolia, Transbaikalia, it is an epidemiological factor, since among these rodents there are plague epizootics. When hunting tarbagans, infection with plague from infected animals is possible (removing the skin, etc.). Plague can be transmitted from marmots to humans through the intermediary of fleas Oropsylla Silantiewi (see Plague).