The European marmot (marmotta in Italian) is an animal that gives great satisfaction when hiking in the Alps. They can stand on their two hind legs for extended amounts of time, and they normally do that on a convenient boulder close to the entrance of their burrow. Normally they stand stone still, and their light brown/dark brown coat makes them blend in perfectly well with the environment.
So you don't really see them. But boy, can you hear them! The marmot's standard response to a menace (and that means you, buddy) is to whistle very loudly. Actually loud enough to startle the wits out of you.
There is a bit of a chain reaction effect, since they like to spread the news in the colony. If you get even closer, every marmot will retreat into its burrow. Now, if you lay down and remain absolutely still (and downwind, I should add), after five minutes they will come out again. And they will spot you again, and repeat the whistle-hide cycle.
The marmot can run probably faster than you can, but its chief weapon is that it looks so irresistibly funny when it is running that you are too busy laughing to pursue it. Picture a sausage with very short stubby legs running ...