Beobachtungen über Reviermarkierung sovie Droh-, Kampf- und Abwehrverhalten des Murmeltieres (Marmota marmota L.) [Observation sur le marquage lors de menace, de combat, d'attaque des marmottes alpines. Observation on marking during during threat, fight and attack of alpine marmots].

Résumé

Observations were made on 16 marmots kept in captivity, 15 wildcaught animals, one handreared and also on wild animals in the field. The handreared showed intensely aggressive behaviour towards human strangers. When hibernation is prevented, marmots may be in heat and show aggressive behaviour of variable intensity from late autumn until spring. The cheek glands serve for the deposition of scent marks all over the territory. The male smears the secretion emanating from several spots of the cheek on prominent stones and branches, most frequently during mating period, but also at all other seasons. The movements of grooming the head which are found in all other rodents are lacking in the marmot, possibly in connection with the existence of cheek glands. The frequent olfactory controlling of each others muzzle and the rubbing of the muzzle against the substratum might point to the presence of lip glands. The repellently smelling secretion of the anal gland does not serve for scent-marking, but for defense. Short up-and-down movements of the tail indicate excitation, as in other Sciurids. The movements has been developed, by ritualisation, into the optically effective "tail-whipping" (Schwanzpetschen). When in an aggressive mood, the marmot utters a chuckling threatening noise (Drohguggern) and whips its tail in irregular figures of 8 or in horizontal direction. During mating season, oo show a particular intimidation display directed at other oo. The threatening rattling of the teeth is effected by superposition of three different movements of the lower mandible and occurs in fighring excitation as well as in otherwise quiescent moods in the latter case, it might be interpreted simply as a sharpening of teeth. In attack, marmots will circle around each other, rise on the hindlegs, grasp the adversary and bite. As an adaptation to its burrowing habits the marmot has the ability of wedging itself so firmly into corners of its burrow as to make it impossible to pull it out. In defense, marmots bite, scratch and snarl, kick their legs and extrude their repellently smelling anal glands. In fights which are not too serious, they utter a sort of complaining noise (Unmutsgreinen) which serves to elicit the adversary's biting inhibition. Whistling occurs in various moods as in fear, pain, playful fighting, also as a reaction to other sounds etc. It is an utterance correlated to a rather unspecific excitation and its meaning can vary accordingly.