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Urban Myths:- The lemming

 
 
The resistable rise of Reidcourchie
16:41 / 19.05.02
A little while ago I was talking to my next door neighbour, a rather inteligent chap from North Carolina. I'm not entirely sure but the topic of conversation turned to Lemmings. He told me that the idea of lemmings throwing themselves off cliffs was untrue and that in fact the lemming was a relatively smart creature.

Apparently this came about when a group of disney employed film makers decided they needed something to spice up their nature film, so they drove a group of lemmings off a cliff and filmed it.

Now I'm quite prepared to believe this as I'm already convinced that Disney is evil but can anyone through some light on the suicidal tendancies of the lemming?
 
 
w1rebaby
17:24 / 19.05.02
That's true.

From www.snopes.com...

Contrary to popular belief, lemmings do not periodically hurl themselves off of cliffs and into the sea. Cyclical explosions in population do occasionally induce lemmings to attempt to migrate to areas of lesser population density. When such a migration occurs, some lemmings die by falling over cliffs or drowning in lakes or rivers. These deaths are not deliberate "suicide" attempts, however, but accidental deaths resulting from the lemmings' venturing into unfamiliar territories and being crowded and pushed over dangerous ledges. In fact, when the competition for food, space, or mates becomes too intense, lemmings are much more likely to kill each other than to kill themselves...

...Disney's "White Wilderness" was filmed in Alberta, Canada, which is not a native habitat for lemmings and has no outlet to the sea. Lemmings were imported for use in the film, purchased from Inuit children by the filmmakers. The Arctic rodents were placed on a snow-covered turntable and filmed from various angles to produce a "migration" sequence; afterwards, the helpless creatures were transported to a cliff overlooking a river and herded into the water.



A lemming, yesterday
 
 
Mourne Kransky
17:45 / 19.05.02
Hmm, so lemmings don't whine they adapt.
 
 
Sax
17:48 / 19.05.02
And now they have no unique selling point any more. They're just snow rats.
 
 
that
17:49 / 19.05.02
I've met lemmings in the flesh. Held one or two, even. They're very cute, and very, very small.
 
 
Ganesh
23:59 / 19.05.02
If given the chance, though, they'll readily gobble down paracetamol and refuse to get in the A&E vehicle...
 
 
Mystery Gypt
00:30 / 20.05.02
I always knew lemmings weren't trying to kill themselves -- they're just making a cry for help.
 
 
Ganesh
00:33 / 20.05.02
Yeah. They'll always claim that other lemmings stopped them "just before I threw myself off". Frauds...
 
 
Saint Keggers
02:27 / 20.05.02
Im not sure, but I was at one of those lemming 'suicides' and I could have swore they were all screaming "I am superman and I CAN FLY" in their high-pitched little lemming voices. (a few were talking about overturning the laws of gravity..but they were frownd upon by their collegues.
 
 
w1rebaby
08:49 / 20.05.02
What's the point in lemmings, anyway? Aren't they just a sort of gang-related arctic mouse? Penguins I can see the point of, but lemmings... superfluous. Maybe they realised this.
 
 
Saveloy
08:59 / 20.05.02
Duh, how can you ask what the point of a thing is and then go on to describe it as an "arctic mouse" without realising that you've answered your own question? What God in their right mind would exclude "arctic mice" from their plans? Not the sort of God I'd vote for, I'll tell yer that for nothing!
 
 
We're The Great Old Ones Now
10:16 / 20.05.02
The whole lemming confusion arises from the fact that lemmings hunt small insects which make their homes on clifftops. The lemmings rush along the edge of the cliff and catch these critters as they rise out of the moss, and gobble them down. The insects, of course, head out to sea if they can, where no lemming can follow.

Some lemmings, of course, do follow.

The results are non-lemming-friendly.

This zoological update has been brought to you by Made Up Stuff Ltd.
 
 
w1rebaby
11:39 / 20.05.02
Okay, yeah, arctic mice are a good thing. If we didn't have them we'd have to invent them. A bit like pig snorkels.
 
 
w1rebaby
11:43 / 20.05.02
Another rodent that is excellent value for money is the capybara. I suspect that it may even be better than the beaver, though it does not have an amusing tail (or, in fact, much of a tail at all.)

 
 
We're The Great Old Ones Now
12:55 / 20.05.02
All this leads to one fundamental question: are elephants afraid of lemmings?

It's vital because, in theory, a herd of lemmings racing for the cliff could stampede a herd of elephants ahead of them. That kind of thing is bad for shipping.
 
 
w1rebaby
13:18 / 20.05.02
Please vote for the best rodent here
 
 
Saveloy
13:59 / 20.05.02
Re: elephants, their fear of lemmings, question of

It's okay Nick - arctic elephants are so afraid of being run off a cliff and bursting an oil tanker that they stay indoors all day and all night and answer the door and phone to no one, which explains why no one has ever seen or heard an arctic elephant.
 
 
Mourne Kransky
14:09 / 20.05.02
Capybara, my arse, fridgemagnet! That's a Shetland Pony: a hybrid between the horse and the beaver, specially bred in the Shetland Isles to service the short, stumpy locals.
 
 
Mourne Kransky
14:12 / 20.05.02
& Nick has just explained the extinction of the woolly mammoth - a mystery over which zoologists and the Inuit have puzzled for centuries now.
 
 
w1rebaby
14:45 / 20.05.02
It's a bit unwise developing a horse/beaver crossbreed for satisfaction purposes, since the tail is going to get in the way surely. The last thing you want is a big flat tail slapping against your stomach. You'd get all bruised.
 
 
We're The Great Old Ones Now
14:49 / 20.05.02
[tries incredibly hard not to say anything at all]
 
 
bitchiekittie
15:18 / 20.05.02
way too much thought into that one
 
 
w1rebaby
17:16 / 20.05.02
the current results are:

capybara 9
beaver 1
lemming 4

though polling has not yet closed
 
 
Mourne Kransky
17:30 / 20.05.02
Ah, but they're hardy chiels in those far northern islands, with lots of time on their hands during the long winter nights, once the knitting's done and they've eaten the whole pickled fish supply. Lots of time to practise exciting new perversions...

This guy put his spare time to good use though, with these lemming cartoon strips.
 
  
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