GOTHIC, Colo. (AP) — Fat Marmot Week is coming soon. Last winter was tough for the groundhog-like rodents living in the Colorado mountains. Researchers say there wasn’t enough snow to keep marmots’ burrows warm while they hibernated, causing many of the animals to freeze to death. The marmots that survived are doing well. They’ve fattened up, gaining the critical weight they need to make it through next winter. To drum up interest in their work, marmot researchers are launching an online contest for the public to vote for their favorite critter — Fat Marmot Week. It begins Monday.

Researchers swab the cheek of a marmot Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Gothic, Colo. Image courtesy of Brittany Peterson via Associated Press. 
Columbia University undergraduate student Isabel Norman, left, learns how to weigh a marmot under the supervision of Katie Adler, a doctoral student at the University of California, Los Angeles, Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Gothic, Colo. Image courtesy of Brittany Peterson via Associated Press. 

By Brittany Peterson and Mead Gruver,  Associated Press

Banner image: A marmot named 9 sits outside of her den Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026, in Gothic, Colo. Image courtesy of Brittany Peterson via Associated Press.