Interesting, Ploopy. Thanks for the reply. Since initially writing this, I now recall this 'ol boy from Leadville that I used to work with. I remember him talking about eating marmot. He was a man of few words, though and did'nt say much about it except that he had eaten it since he was a kid, and that it was "good". I'm willing to bet there is a reason for that 6-8 hours in a crock pot. With all that running in, around and under rocks, they probably are a bit stringy.