“A rare wildlife sighting on the campus of the Columbia River Maritime Museum!” was posted Sept. 12 on the museum’s Facebook page, along with the photo shown. “Curator Jeff Smith reached out to the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife when another employee spotted an unusual visitor along the waterfront. Turns out it is a yellow-bellied marmot — the largest squirrel in Oregon!

“Per Matthew Falk, in the ODFW Salem Office: ‘Yes, this is a yellow-bellied marmot. Normally they are not found west of the Cascades, but there was one that showed up in Seaside last year. Later it was spotted in Astoria. Most likely this is the same one. It is unknown how it got to the coast, but one possibility is it hitched a ride in a truckload of hay.’”

A few fun yellow-bellied marmot facts from animalia.bio: These herbivores are short-sighted, but their ears and nose are finely tuned; they are also called whistle pigs, for one of the sounds they make. Adult marmots hibernate in their burrows about eight months a year, usually (it varies, though) from early September until May.

“Wonder if we will see our marmot friend,” the post mused, “when it emerges from hibernation … ”