VIDEO: Empress and the beast: Victoria hotel’s turf war with marmot Roger

Mischievous beasts outwitting their human foes is a tale as old as time – Peter Rabbit and his friends had farmer Mr. McGregor on the hop; while hapless hunter Elmer Fudd was always one step behind trickster Bugs Bunny.

It’s the same story at Victoria’s Fairmont Empress Hotel, where for 17 years the grounds team has been at the mercy of a yellow-bellied marmot called Roger.

And similar to his fictional long-eared counterparts, it’s Roger who always comes out on top in the turf war with the Fairmont team.

“He’s definitely the boss,” says Alex Buck, who has worked at the hotel for 34 years, 12 years as part of the grounds team. “He’s named after one of the old bosses of the Fairmont – so it suits him.”

Not native to the Island, local legend says Roger hitched a ride from Alberta on board an RV. The rock chuck was first spotted in the grounds of the Inner Harbour hotel in 2008, making his home among the Centennial Garden’s rockery.

It’s here he feasts on a buffet of the finest flora in the city, often uprooting the hard work of Buck and his colleagues.

“It looked wonderful – had lots of colour,” said Buck, wistfully thinking back to when the Centennial Garden was blooming with a plethora of pollinator-friendly plants, all planted to complement Roger’s hard-working neighbours, four colonies of bees.

“But it slowly deteriorated; it was getting devoured. He just went ballistic and ate the entire thing – we basically just fed him.”

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A similar fate awaited Buck’s prized jelly palms, which he says can be difficult to grow and maintain in Victoria

“I came out once and found him ripping the bark off, because he’s nesting … just pulling it all apart, destroying it, killing the cambium layer of the palm,” he said.

But the Empress gardeners don’t get mad, they get “gentle.”

To combat the marmot’s ferocious appetite, Buck says the gardeners try to work in harmony with Roger, creating a garden satisfying for all appetites – both a taste and visual sensation.

The Centennial Garden now boasts a variety of flora, some chosen as a possible marmot snack, others in the hope the ravenous rodent will leave them alone.

“He doesn’t eat the allium because they’re too oniony,” says Buck. “Ultimately, we just let him run the show.”

As well as answering to ‘boss’ Roger, Buck spends a good chunk of his working day acting as head of the marmot’s unofficial fan club, fielding questions from his adoring fans.

“I talk more about Roger than I do gardening most of the time,” says Buck. “There’s just a following … a love for him.”

The most famous marmot in Greater Victoria – step aside Victoria Royals mascot Marty – Roger’s fans come from far and wide, says Buck, with some developing their own notoriety.

One woman was nicknamed ‘Roger’s mom’ on account of the frequency she came to photograph the critter.

“She came every other day,” Buck said. “She’s got a very expensive camera … if we could ever track her down, she probably would have the best collection of images – she’s taken photographs of him for years.”

The question Buck hears most often from the ‘chuckheads’? When is the best time to catch a glimpse of the critter, who some say is more elusive than sasquatch?

And the answer is not as straightforward as you might think – this marmot, accustomed to his life of pampered luxury in what the hotel calls the “best harbour front suite in Victoria,” has high standards.

“Twenty-one degrees, quiet, between 8 to 10 a.m., and 6 to 8 p.m.,” explains Buck. “He doesn’t like it cold and he doesn’t like it in the peak of summer.”

Native to southwestern Canada and the western United States, yellow-bellied marmots are known to hibernate for about eight months of the year, typically from September to May, in their underground burrows.

Not Roger, he bucks the trend, making it all the more difficult to spot him.

“We think he’s out of his environment a little bit because it’s too hot in summer and too cold in the winter, so he has two hibernations,” says Buck. “About now (May/June) he goes back down again, and then we’ll see him again in September until the middle of October.”

Despite their workplace rivalry and Roger’s canny knack of running circles around him, Buck has a genuine affection for his four-legged ‘boss’ – but don’t tell his pet at home.

“I have a really small, little fluffy dog – Roger’s cuter,” admits Buck.

The flattery doesn’t stop there.

“Roger is adorable, he’s got a beautiful honey blonde colour to him and he’s so cute,” lists Buck, sounding more like one of Roger’s fans than a ‘work colleague’.

“He’s just got this fat bum and you really want to give it a snuggle.”

Now in his twilight years at the grand old age of 17 (at least) – yellow-bellied marmots can live up to 15 years in the wild – Buck hopes Roger will still be around to celebrate his 20th anniversary at the hotel in 2028.

“We see him a little less every year,” says Buck. “But he’s an old bachelor on his own, doing his own thing. I think it’s just easy for him, he knows the routine now, and he’s got a little lazier.

“But he’s had the perfect life.”

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