Hitchhiking Marmot Busted By Colorado Wildlife Officers

(CBS4) -- It looked like a marmot wanted to hitch a ride down the mountain and into town! The large rodent crawled its way up into the undercarriage of a truck on Mount Evans.

"In general, they are usually either looking for warmth from the ambient heat of the engine, or at times some of the wire coatings are now made from soy based insulation and that smells like food when heated," Colorado Parks and Wildlife said.

The person driving the truck happened to be a CPW wildlife biologist, who was up there doing work for a study being conducted on mountain goats.

After getting the marmot out from under the car, CPW had to haze it with a pole to get it to run along.

CPW said every year there are marmots that hitch a ride on vehicles visiting the high country and wind up in the Front Range.

"Luckily, this one will be staying put in its home and not going for a road trip."

• Colorado Parks And Wildlife