PORT ANGELES — A young marmot with itchy feet and wanderlust is back home at Hurricane Ridge after hitching a ride on a Clallam Transit System bus Wednesday.
The wayward animal was spotted in the bus lane at Gateway Transit Center around 1 p.m. A review of video footage confirmed it had exited the engine compartment at the back a Hurricane Ridge Shuttle bus, General Manager Jim Fetzer said.
“It didn’t seem too nervous,” Fetzer said. “It just scuttled away toward The Rail.”
The Rail General Manager Tonya Carter said she had to ask twice when told there was a marmot hiding out under the restaurant’s outdoor back deck.
“A what?” Carter said. “A what?”
Wildlife — other than the human kind — don’t usually frequent the area, she said.
Carter gave the keys to the locked space under the deck to Clallam Transit supervisor Taron Lee, who was one of a number of people trying to wrangle the marmot. Perhaps because it thought it was going to score a burger and fries at The Rail, the piece of lettuce Carter gave to a customer to lure him out didn’t work.
It was finally enticed into a dog kennel by Olympic National Park wildlife biologist Miranda Terwilliger, who had been called to the scene. In an email, Olympic National Park public affairs specialist Molly Pittman said Terwilliger whisked the marmot to Hurricane Ridge and released it back to the custody of its parents who live in a burrow near Obstruction Point Road. The entire episode took about 2½ hours — the fastest marmot recapture of Terwilliger’s career.
“Marmots may mistake cars for good hiding places,” said Pittman in her email quoting Terwilliger. “Everyone should always check their vehicles before leaving Hurricane Ridge. Leaving the hood open may also discourage marmots from climbing into the engine compartment.”
Peg Labiuk of Victoria was sitting inside The Rail having lunch with a friend when her husband, Dennis, called to her from outside to see the commotion.
“He said, ‘Peg, you’ll want to come out here and see this’,” she said. “I’d seen lots of marmots at Hurricane Ridge. This one was standing up on his hind legs in the crate and barking. He was not very happy.”
Why this particular marmot hopped the noon shuttle for the 20-mile, 45-minute trip to downtown Port Angeles was a matter of speculation.
Labiuk thought it wanted to take the 5:15 p.m. M.V. Coho to Victoria.
Maybe ride the Strait Shot to Seattle to watch the Mariners face the Nationals?
Or, like many teenagers, the young marmot just wanted show its independence, assert its identity and defy its parents.
He’ll likely get caught if he tries the stunt again.
Fetzer said the transit system had instituted a new protocol that should prevent the furry culprit and any other marmot from stowing away on a shuttle without paying the $1 fare.
“Drivers are now doing a visual check of the engine compartment before they leave Hurricane Ridge,” he said.
Pittman said anyone with a concern about park wildlife should follow Clallam Transit’s example.
“They reached out to Olympic National Park biologists and didn’t take action on their own,” she said. “All park visitors should follow suit and report wildlife incidents to OLYM_Wildlife_Reports@nps.gov or contact any ranger.”
Information about responsible interactions with wildlife in the park can be found at www.nps.gov/olym/planyourvisit/wildlife-safety.htm/.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com
Olympic National Park wildlife biologist Miranda Terwilliger prepares to release the adventurous marmot back to his home on Hurricane Ridge. (OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK)
