Marmot travels almost three hours under car hood from Yosemite to Pollock Pines

POLLOCK PINES — An El Dorado County woman picked up an unknown passenger on her way back from Yosemite, but this was smaller than your average hitchhiker.

“I didn’t actually discover the marmot until Monday night and so it was in there the whole time,” Phoebe Stokes, Pollock Pines resident, said.

Stokes traveled to Yosemite last weekend and returned home Sunday night. She said she didn’t notice any unusual sights or sounds on her way back.

On Monday, her dogs were sniffing the front of her car uncontrollably.

“Opened the hood and this big, fat marmot jumped out and immediately went back into the hood, underneath to the engine,” Stokes said.

She said she called a local wildlife agency and advised catching it in an enclosed area so they could relocate it back to Yosemite.

The El Dorado County Fire Protection District stepped in to help.

“Firefighters worked for some period of time with various tools to open up the vehicle, the engine compartment area and then remove the rodent safely,” Fire Captain Jacob Poganski said.

Poganski said crews and wildlife officials worked for over an hour to get the marmot out of the car. The marmot is OK and there was no damage to the car.

It’s a situation Poganski said doesn’t happen too often but is a good reminder to check underneath your hood every now and again.

“If my dogs hadn’t sniffed it, I probably wouldn’t have found it, ever. Poor thing. So I’m glad it’s OK,” Stokes said.

Stokes said she heard from wildlife officials that they plan to relocate the marmot back to the spot where she parked in Yosemite.