There’s been a marmot sighting in Bernal Heights, and rescuers are scrambling to capture the very cute, very decontextualized creature, which normally lives at altitudes above 5000 feet. The SF Appeal just went live with this breaking story:

Wildlife rescuers are spending this afternoon trying to capture a marmot that was spotted in the backyard of a home in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood.

A resident called WildCare, a wildlife rehabilitation center based in Marin, to report seeing the marmot in the yard this morning.

The call was forwarded to members of Wildlife Emergency Services, based in Moss Landing, who were on scene this afternoon trying to coax the marmot from underneath a shed, said Rebecca Dmytryk, an animal expert with the organization.

Dmytryk said she believes the animal made its way to Bernal Heights by hitching a ride on the undercarriage of a truck or car on the drive from the Sierras or other mountainous location and has likely been in San Francisco for about a week.

UPDATE: As of this evening, KTVU reports that the marmot remains at large and warns that the creature may be a glycerol addict:

At 6:15 p.m., Dmytryk told KTVU that they were unable to round up the marmot from under the “little studio.”

“We will be placing cage trap and monitoring continuously,” wrote Dmytryk in an email to KTVU. “We really want need to know if someone from the area has come back recently from mts like tahoe or yosemite”

Dmytryk said she believed the animal made its way to Bernal Heights by hitching a ride on the undercarriage of a truck or car on the drive from the Sierras or other mountainous location and has likely been in San Francisco for about a week.

She cited a phenomenon in which marmots get into automobile engines and chew through the engine hoses to drink antifreeze.

Hide your antifreeze, Citizens of Bernalwood!  There is a marmot on the prowl.

PHOTO: A marmot, via Wikipedia