The US government's cuts to science have led researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to make an unconventional decision.

Together with his team, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology Daniel Blumstein has made the unusual decision to open an OnlyFans account. But they do not appear in the exclusive content, but rather the groundhogs who investigate.

Blumstein was researching yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado when he came up with the plan: "When I came back with this idea, one of my graduate students immediately said we should do it! So here we are," he tells Live Science.

More than 60 years studying marmots

The yellow-bellied is one of 15 known species of marmots, a group of cat-sized ground squirrels that can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere. They live in groups and are active during the day, making them an excellent subject for long-term behavioral studies.

Blumstein says the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory (RMBL) has been studying marmots since 1962: “We have up to 65 years of data on population dynamics, social and antipredatory behavior, and we're asking a lot of questions about how the animals respond to a changing environment.”

“Long-term research like ours is of great value in understanding how and why things change over time, and our project has been very productive,” he adds.

Research is obviously not free.

However, collecting data over decades is expensive. Federal cuts to the science budget and universities have depleted available funds to the point of desperation, according to the team.

“The state of funding is so bad that we are turning to OnlyFans, or as we like to call it, ‘OnlyMarms,'” reads a post from RMBL on Instagram.

“If we're lucky, it can help raise money for supplies and some expenses,” Blumstein admits. But “it will not replace the federal funding that has fueled the discoveries,” he adds.

What is OnlyFans?

OnlyFans is a subscription platform that allows users to pay creators to view exclusive photos and videos. It is popular among adult content creators, but also among musicians, athletes, celebrities... and now groundhogs.

Blumstein hit a roadblock when he tried to open the OnlyMarms account, which has images and videos of groundhogs. He tried to identify his account with a photo of his driver's license, but the system wouldn't allow it.

“The platform told me that I didn't look like the groundhog,” jokes the scientist, in statements published by The New York Times.

Can it really help with financing?

For now, the business model is modest: free subscriptions and voluntary tips. OnlyFans retains 20% and Blumstein pays taxes on the rest, he says. According to The New York Times, the account has racked up about 2,900 views and 112 subscribers, generating about $650 so far.

“Our ‘OnlyMarms’ page has been getting some engagement since we opened it a little over a month ago,” team member Emily Renkey tells Live Science.

“Most people give about $10, which tells me there is a real and growing interest in what we do,” says Blumstein.

What could the user expect from OnlyMarms?

The team hopes that this will serve to increase public interest in this type of project: "I think it can be an incredible way to teach people more about the social behavior of animals, which can sometimes be difficult to observe. Even we have learned more about groundhogs," says Renkey.

Regarding the type of images that users can expect, Blumstein assures that it is suitable for everyone: "Marmots playing, being adorable, digging, taking plants to their burrows. Routine and normal things. The occasional fight makes it become supervised content," he jokes.

Frustration due to lack of long-term resources

Blumstein, who he says should be spending time writing scientific papers or working with students, acknowledges that “it's just frustrating, but we're doing this (OnlyFans), which is a little absurd in the long run.”

Likewise, he hopes to be able to use the funds “to help continue the study, which provides valuable information about them (marmots) and how they are responding to climate change,” concludes Blumstein.

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