Hoary marmot family portrait

I hiked up to the 6,800 foot level of Mt. Rainier yesterday looking for white-tailed ptarmigans. I dipped on the ptarmigans but found this little family of hoary marmots which gave me a nice pose.
Bob

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That's a sweet shot Bob! I haven't seen these animals since the 80's when I lived in Washingtion state. So did you carry the 800mm on the hike? Excellent image, and they sure are cute!

Thanks Steve. I am so out of shape that carrying the 300 2.8 became a chore after a while. I took a monopod which doubled as a walking stick. On my way back down I ran into a guy who saw 8 ptarmigans and a fox at very close range only a short distance beyond where I decided to end my upwards hike. I was so tempted to go back up there but knew my body would yell at me for trying.
Bob

Very nice shot. I'd never heard of these guys before -- had to look 'em up.

Nice shot, Bob. I've only seen hoary marmots in Alaska, but lots of yellow-bellies in CO, MT, etc. Haven't seen any marmots around Mt Rainier, must be bad luck.

Beauties! Thats a massive hike!

Nice picture ! That's a interesting fur pattern for a Marmot !

What a really neat shot Bob.

The way all three are positioed, it's almost like they were your models and you physically placed them there yourself. Couldn't have asked for better poses !! Nice !!

Matt.

Thanks Judy, Stan, Gail, mouellet and matt. These animals have a very curious attitude and a very loud and piercing scream.
Bob

Gorgeous shot!

Jaci

Bob,

I really like Hoary Marmots. And I really like this image. I like how the rocks are in focus. My trouble with marmots and Pika is that it is often so hard to get them in focus and yet have enough DOF to get the rocks they're on in focus too. I think backing up was a good choice, as it allowed you to get the whole family in the image and also got the rock habitat sharp.

Hoary Marmots are so much more interesting to me than the Yellow Bellied ones. Perhaps that is due to where they live: YB Marmots try to live under my shed and dig their way into farmer's barns. Hoary Marmots live in pristine mountain areas at high elevation. The animals themselves differ very little, but I associate YBs with "nuisance", while I associate Hoarys with gorgeous alpine terrain.