If he sees danger approaching he whistles, as a warning to all his
relatives within hearing."
"I suppose it is foolish to ask if he lives in a hole in the ground
as Johnny Chuck does," spoke up Peter Rabbit.
"He does," replied Old Mother Nature. "All Marmots live in holes in
the ground, but Whistler lives in entirely different country. He
lives up on the sides of the mountains, often so high that no trees
grow there and the ground is rocky. He digs his hole down in between
the rocks."
"It must be a nice, safe hole," said Peter. "I guess he doesn't
have to worry about being dug out by Reddy fox."
"You guessed quite right," laughed Old Mother Nature. "Nevertheless,
he has reason to fear being dug out. You see, out where he lives,
Grizzly, the big cousin of Buster Bear, also lives, and Grizzly is
very fond of a Marmot dinner when he can get one. He is so big and
strong and has such great claws that he can pull the rocks apart and
dig Whistler out. By the way, I forgot to tell you that Whistler is
also called the Gray Marmot and the Hoary Marmot. He lives on grass
and other green things and, like Johnny Chuck, gets very fat in the
fall and then sleeps all winter. There are one or two other Marmots
in the Far West who live farther south than does Whistler, but their
habits are much the same as those of Whistler and Johnny Chuck.
Pages:
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80