Along the road
the marmots sit on their haunches
beautiful fur coats
glistening shades of light and dark.
They sit, admiring the view,
enjoying the sun,
sharing chirping whistles while
watching the antics of the tourists:
Canada Geese in town
for a romantic vacation.
Two marmots crane their necks
to watch the blue heron
high-stepping in the marsh
and cuddle next to one another;
Marmot-ly loving
on their porch
watching the world go by.
.
.
.
Marmots are pudgy rodents, about 20″ long, and prone to curious investigation. They kind of look like beavers, but with a bushy squirrel tail. There is a colony living in the ditch along the TransCanada Hwy at Canoe, BC that I pass every day. They are very cute. If you disturb them, they whistle warnings to one another. They’re pests, because they dig, but they don’t seem to annoy anyone where they’re at right now (a few years), so hopefully they’ll be allowed to stay. They’re quite entertaining. Yesterday one rose up on his haunches to balance on his back legs like a pudgy little man as I drove by, and made me laugh out loud.
Here’s a nice photo of one: http://www.cascadesgallery.com/image.php?set=9&id=2
Shawn L. Bird 
Kinda like Meerkats? I like the cute adorable members of the rodent family like squirrels and rabbits. Now if only New York City would find a way to get rid of the rats and mice in the subway and on various city streets. I’d be very happy.
Very fat meerkats. 🙂
Oh yes I thought about this corny song from the Captain & Tennille. Muskrat Love ~ http://youtu.be/QP0iAlSsQBA
However in their case Love did Not Keep Them Together. After around 40 years of marriage she divorced the Captain!!
I confess, the title was a nod to Captain & Tenille. “Muskrat Susie, Muskrat Tom, Do the jitterbug…”
😉
Just your title cracked me up. They are pretty cute. We have beavers in Oregon (we are the Beaver State) and nutria…but we call them Mountain Boomers. Why? I’ve no idea. Watching them (and the elk) is certainly better than anything on TV. Here’s more than you want to know:
http://seattletimes.com/html/pacificnw/2008706268_pacificpbeaver08.html
lol Thanks for sharing 😉
We love Oregon. It’s kind of like home, here in BC. We were in Portland in March; it’s one of our favourite cities.
Nice poem, but I loved your explanation.
Glad you found things you liked!
I really appriciated the information at the end, allowed me to really appriciate the poem more on the second read
Sometimes I can’t help but add a little lesson. It’s a teacher thing. 😉
they remind me of prairie dogs which also are rodents who dig and live underground.They also make this high pitched whistle to each other. To me they look like fat squirrels with short puppy tails.
Yup. Same family
Hi Shawn! Loved the poem. Your imagery is quite explicit and a true joy to read. I am from North Carolina, USA and so I have never seen such birds—it was good to experience the birds first hand via your poem. My favorite lines are “Canada Geese in town/ for a romantic vacation.” I like the idea of creating back story to animals and objects. Also, your description at the end made me laugh! Great work.
Marmots aren’t birds. 🙂 Click the link at the bottom of the posts.
oh my! They are rodents! I missed that entirely!! This changes things!! (Primarily the image I had in my head)
lol
Oo, they look like mini bears!
And much less inclined to damage vital organs or chase one up a tree.
My kinda animal 😉
😉