Monday, February 4, 2013

The Marmots and Matteo

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Subject: The Marmots and Matteo
Matteo Walch, 8, has struck up a friendship with a group of marmots in the Austrian Alps.
They are notoriously shy around humans,�beating their tails and chattering their teeth to
try to warn us off
before emitting loud whistles to tell other members of their colony to flee.

But, when these alpine marmots see Matteo Walch, they scuttle to his side and�show him
nothing but affection. The eight-year-old built up a remarkable relationship with the
creatures since first being taken to see them by his nature-loving family four years�ago.



The family returns to visit the colony in Groslocker in the�Austrian Alps for two weeks every year.
Matteo's father, Michaela, said: 'Their friendship has lasted for more than four years now.He loves
those animals and they are not at all afraid of�Matteo because he has a feeling towards them and
they understand that. We go there every year now for two weeks - it's amazing to�watch the
connection between a boy and his animal�friends.'
Marmots stand at around 18cm tall and reach up to 50cm in length. Bizarrely, the animals are
heavier in the autumn, when they can weigh up to 8kg, in comparison to 3kg in the spring months.





Unlikely pair: The normally shy marmots show Matteo�nothing but affection when he visits
them at Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria.
Michaela, a schoolteacher from Innsbruck, Austria, has�uniquely captured the unique bond
between Matteo and his marmot friends throughout the past four years.
He said: 'I could spend hours watching animals - it gives me a connection with nature and
its life forms. It's great that I have been able to document the marmot's natural behaviour
around Matteo, without making them afraid of me and my equipment. I wanted to capture
the animals exactly the way I see them - the way they behave among each other, in harmony
with their surroundings'.

A member of the clan: The marmots gather around Matteo when he arrives and let him feed
them and play with them despite normally running away from humans.





Nose to nose: A marmot greets eight-year-old Matteo on the slopes of the�Austrian Alps.


It is clear from the pictures that Matteo and the marmots are totally comfortable in each other's company.
Michaela, 46, said:� "The picture of a curious animal approaching me is a thousand times more
beautiful than the picture of any animal looking at me in fear before it takes flight. This is how
I try to picture the proudest, more beautiful and also the funniest moments, giving others the
opportunity to enjoy the miraculous world of animals."


Jealous: One marmot is so keen to get his attention that it has climbed up into Matteo's lap for a cuddle.

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