Wildlife Rescue Hopes To Help Marmot That Hitched a Ride From the Mountains Get Back Home

A yellow-bellied marmot was found in SF’s Mission District on Saturday, and rescuers, who think it may have caught a ride on a vehicle returning from a mountainous area (or Burning Man?), are hoping to pinpoint where it came from so they can help it get back.

Saturday's unusual sighting prompted calls to San Francisco Animal Care and Control from residents near Albion Street and 16th Street, who reported seeing the chunky rodent wandering around the Mission, as KRON4 reported Tuesday. Lila Travis, founder and director of Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue in Potrero Hill, says the cat-sized animal was an especially strange sight for a San Francisco backyard.

Yellow-bellied marmots are the largest members of the squirrel family and are generally found in mountainous, rocky areas, including the Eastern Sierra, Tahoe, and Yosemite.

Travis tells KQED that marmots lack a certain electrolyte, which draws them to the salty sweetness of radiator fluid. They’ve been known to crawl into vehicles parked near their habitats, where they chew on wires, brake lines, and radiator hoses. This makes them sick, and they pass out and end up hundreds of miles away.

Yggdrasil is now trying to determine where the marmot originated. The rescue posted a call on social media Monday for anyone living near 16th and Albion who recently returned from or passed through a mountainous area to get in touch — particularly people returning from Burning Man, in hopes that someone may have unknowingly transported the animal to the city.

The goal is to identify the marmot’s original habitat so it can eventually be returned to the right area.

“We want to get him back home,” said Travis, speaking to KQED. “But where is his home?”

If rescuers cannot determine where the marmot came from, Travis plans to request a transfer to the Tahoe Wildlife Center, which would be able to identify where to release it.

Travis also recommends that people driving to and from the mountains take precautions against marmots getting into their vehicles, including covering wheel wells and checking under the hood for signs of chewing.

KQED notes that Yggdrasil, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, takes in roughly 1,000 wild animals annually, primarily squirrels, opossums, raccoons, skunks, and hummingbirds. The refuge is entirely volunteer- and donation-funded and operates through foster homes throughout the Bay Area, along with an on-site facility in Potrero Hill.

The rescue is now hoping to expand into a larger facility, potentially through a partnership with the Port of San Francisco.

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