![\"11\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Untitled_79.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cAnd she’s gone…..\u201d the society wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust like that, the hitchhiking marmot who gained media attention across the country over the past week is back home, in the wild where she belongs!\u201d<\/p>\n
The society also confirmed in the comments that it was the same marmot found in Ratzlaff’s Airdrie garage.<\/p>\n
After a commenter asked Ratzlaff, \u201cYour hitchhiker?\u201d the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society replied, \u201cYup!\u201d<\/p>\n
The Aug. 10 Facebook post did not specify where the marmot was released.<\/p>\n
Ratzlaff’s encounter with the animal began after his wife returned to their Cooper’s Crossing home from Kananaskis Country and closed the garage without noticing anything unusual.<\/p>\n
Later that evening, one of their adult children went into the garage and quickly returned.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a creature in the garage,\u201d Ratzlaff recalled.<\/p>\n
He went inside and found the animal hiding in a corner.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was not anticipating something that large,\u201d he previously told DiscoverAirdrie.<\/p>\n
At first, Ratzlaff thought it was a porcupine. The family later identified the animal as a hoary marmot.<\/p>\n
His wife connected its appearance to her trip earlier that day, and Ratzlaff subsequently wrote on Facebook that the marmot had hitched a ride on the family’s truck.<\/p>\n
He opened the garage door and waited for it to leave.<\/p>\n
Residents later reported sightings around Cooper’s Crossing.<\/p>\n
Several days later, the marmot returned to the same garage.<\/p>\n
The family contacted the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society, which later captured the animal.<\/p>\n
Ratzlaff said the society gave the marmot a health check and told him she was \u201chealthy and feisty.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of Aug. 4, she remained in the society’s care and was expected to be returned to Kananaskis Country later that week.<\/p>\n
Wildlife society reminds drivers to check vehicles<\/p>\n
Alongside the Aug. 10 release video, the Calgary Wildlife Rehabilitation Society reminded people travelling in mountain areas to check their vehicles before leaving.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease remember, when out in the mountains, always bang on your car hood a few times ahead of leaving to make sure there aren’t any curious critters stowed away,\u201d the society wrote.<\/p>\n
The Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation has previously said hoary marmots can become accidental vehicle stowaways.<\/p>\n
They may shelter in wheel wells, engine compartments or beneath trailers, according to the institute.<\/p>\n
The institute advises people travelling in alpine areas to inspect beneath and around their vehicles, including wheel wells and engine compartments, before driving away.<\/p>\n
Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for our daily newsletter and get the latest Airdrie and area headlines delivered straight to your inbox every afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The marmot that turned up twice in an Airdrie family’s garage is back in the wild. Related Stories:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":858402,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[49,48,66,323],"class_list":["post-858401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=858401"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/858401\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=858401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=858401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=858401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}