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What we have here is not a failure to communicate but instead a reaffirming of a mother’s love. Apparently the young marmot had asked why she couldn’t go down the rock slide with the other young marmots and the mother’s reply was “Because I said so.” and the discussion was on. In marmot speak it is perfectly acceptable to punctuate (pun not intended) the youngster’s muzzle with a firm bite to make certain the youngster recognizes the importance of the message being delivered. Failure to comply will often be handled by the application of yet a firmer bite, or as is known in family discussions as an escalation to a higher level. If the message is still not understood by the application of several firm bites to the muzzle the situation ratchets up to what is known in marmotological terms as DefCon 5. That is a very bad thing. Everyone hopes the situation never reaches DefCon 5. Fortunately in this situation the young yellow-bellied marmot accepted her Mother’s advice and did not go down the rock slide with the other young marmots and a highly charged situation was defused. Whew! That’s a relief. It’s another great day in the animal kingdom.