iN PHOTOS: Critters get wet and wild in Kamloops, Okanagan

Wildlife photographer Curtis Zutz saw something he hasn’t seen before while sitting on his property in Oliver earlier this month. A yellow-bellied marmot went swimming across his pond.

“There are always marmots coming down from the hillside to drink, but I’ve never seen one go in,” he said. “I was sitting there and I hear this big splash and the only thing I can think is that something chased it. If it just went for a swim, it would have just entered the water and not made a splash.

“It was swimming fast too, it was creating a wake, it was unbelievable.”

A yellow-bellied marmot swims across a pond in Oliver.
SUBMITTED / Curtis Zutz

Zutz has been doing wildlife photography in the area for eight years, including observing a family of bears living in the South Okanagan.

The marmot wasn’t the only wild critter to get wet this month, as area photographers snapped incredible photos of an assortment of animals playing, swimming and even fishing in local lakes and ponds.

Included in this collection is an adorable duckling, a loon gliding under the water and drenched muskrat. 

If you have awesome wildlife photos to share, send them to news@infonews.ca.

A black bear shedding its winter coat cools off in a lake in the South Okanagan.
SUBMITTED / Curtis Zutz
A baby duck paddles in the South Okanagan.
SUBMITTED / Kathy Green
A wet muskrat is spotted in Kamloops.
SUBMITTED / Melissa Schmidt
A spider has a wet, bejewelled web following a rain shower in the Kamloops area.
SUBMITTED / Doug Giles

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Shannon Ainslie

Shannon Ainslie

Shannon Ainslie brings a background of writing and blogging to the team. She is interested in covering human interest stories and engaging with her community of Kamloops.