Marmots live in family groups, with breeding restricted to a dominant male and a dominant female.

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High in the mountains they were listening to a chorus of cowbells and looking for wild marmots.

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Whichever is the case, in marmots the idea that a little of what you fancy does you good clearly applies to both sexes.

ECONOMIST: Adultery yields benefits to females as well as males

Early evening is a magical time here, with only the occasional chamois grazing the slopes and the shrill whistling of marmots interrupting the pervading sense of calm.

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Until little more than a century ago, hunters from these valleys would make a point of refusing to kill marmots, and shepherds were said to shelter these creatures beneath their huts.

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