Wild Fact #609 – Don’t Follow the Crowd – Lemming
Photo from Wikimedia
After looking at such a vicious and deadly animal yesterday. What? You don’t remember what we looked at to start the week. Remember, the Giant Asian Hornet, biggest hornet in the world! Glad I was able to refresh your poor memory. Anyway, I thought we could use a cuddly animal today and after a long list of animals presented to me by my loving parents (most of them had already been completed) I decided to settle with the Lemming. You know those cute little mouse-like creatures that live in the north and apparently commit mass suicide. Obviously, we will talk about this peculiar habit so keep reading.
As mentioned Lemmings are small rodents that are typically found inhabiting the tundra landscape by the Arctic Circle. Lemmings vary in size with the smallest being around 8 cm (3″) and the largest species being around 24 cm (9.4″). You might think that the best part of living in the Arctic would be that you get to sleep all winter. Well, the Lemming is apparently braver than I am and as a result toughs out the harsh winters. Personally, I would take an 8 month nap. Luckily the Lemming is able to stay warm since they have a nice thick coat of fur and spend most of their time under the snow. I bet they have a pretty cool snow fort!
Photo by Frode Inge Helland (Wikimedia)
I am guessing that if you have heard about the Lemming then you have heard how large herds of these creatures jump off cliffs. If you have indeed heard this then you may be shocked to learn that this is one big myth. The theory was that older Lemmings would jump off cliffs to ensure that there was enough food and resources for the younger generation of Lemmings. Although this interesting theory is not true the Lemming population does fluctuate quite a bit with lack of food being one of the reasons. When I say their population fluctuates, I don’t just mean there are a few less individuals one year. When the Lemming population cycle hits its low point, they are pretty much bordering on the side of extinction. A few years later, in a “Lemming Year” these little creatures can be found everywhere. It is absolutely amazing how they can go from such a small population to being overpopulated in a few years. Can anyone think why this odd population strategy might actually be beneficial to the Lemming species as a whole? I will post the answer in the comment section in a couple of days.
Well that does it for the little Lemming of the North. I hope you enjoyed today’s fact! See you tomorrow.
