Pesky marmots do such things as eat tires, chew up radiator hoses in your car at the trailhead, and destroy packs, trekking pole handles and anything you own with salt on it. They are quite disguisting as they eat dirt where you pee just to taste the salt.

They become aggressive. Last trip I finally started throwing rocks at them. They just looked clueless. My theory is that they are so dumb that they cannot connect the rock that hits them with the being who throws the rock. Yet if I get up and run after or kick them, they "get it" and scurry off, but only for a while.

Any body else throw rocks at marmots to no avail? What is your experience with marmots. Some think they are cute and fuzzy, but they are rodents and can carry diseases and are very destructive.