Keyword Marmot

Journeying from the Pyrenees to the Alps, all around the mainland to Corsica, this is the story of the 'wild side' of France.

A wildlife documentary about marmot.

It is winter. The snow is falling heavily on the mountain. Heidi, Lucie, Léonie and Nickie, the yodelling marmots, are looking for a shelter to hibernate in for the next five months. On their way, they meet Denis, a solitary and taciturn mountain goat, who just wants calm and peace.

These peculiar and roughly rabbit-sized rodents enjoy great popularity at the Grossglockner in the Austrian Alps. Before the last ice age, marmots used to live in the lowland of Tirol, but with the melting of the glaciers they were driven higher up into the mountains – a trend that will continue given the current climate change.

In 1910, following dramatic circumstances that led to the death of her two parents, Rose and her grandfather Hoffman find themselves trapped in a remote shack, far from the civilized world, where they must struggle for survival. Despite being only twelve years old, Rose quickly realizes that Hoffman, overwhelmed, no longer has the physical and moral resources to react, and it is up to her to find a way out. When two marmots that had escaped capture allow themselves to be tamed, Rose decides to go down to the town to present her musical act as a marmot trainer. When she returns with pockets full, Hoffman and she will go back to the world to write a new chapter in their lives.

The marmot is a beloved and iconic animal of the Alps, known for its chubby figure and entertaining demeanor. In the film, we follow the life of Mox, a young male who emerges from his burrow at 6500 feet altitude for the first time after four weeks of being born. He has a limited window of time to build up enough fat reserves to survive his six-month hibernation underground. During this period, Mox engages in playful activities with his peers, mutual grooming, and feasts on succulent plants. He also learns to identify the scent of each colony member, the peaceful presence of chamois and ibex, and the dangers that lurk above. When Mox wakes up the following year from hibernation, he is exhausted, emaciated, and vulnerable to predators such as eagles, foxes, and wolves that still roam the snow and avalanche-covered slopes.