Marmots at Hustai Nuruu National Park. Marmots are fairly common in Mongolia, and sometimes serve as a plague carrier. (More technically, the fleas they carry do.) In fact, the Mongolian term for the bubonic plagues translates more literally as "the marmot epidemic." The meat is supposed to be quite tasty, although I've always managed to miss opportunities to try it. A friend and I had gone to see the tah', and, unsurprisingly, saw marmots as well. What was somewhat surprising was that I managed to get a decent photo of them, since marmots tend to be rather skittish.