# Lemmings **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 19, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541 "2016-02-19T11:54:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bertzpoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bertzpoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bertzpoet)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/1 "2016-02-19T11:54:14Z")
I was in northern Finland a few years back and scattered all over an urban sidewalk and into the woods were dead lemmings. Perhaps it was a population crash, and such an event giving rise to the ‘suicide’ story. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/2 "2016-02-19T12:17:30Z")
Let’s add a link to the column in question [Do lemmings really commit mass suicide?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/3276/do-lemmings-really-commit-mass-suicide), and everyone can follow along. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/3 "2016-02-19T14:50:26Z")
Also, apropos of the column rather than OP, Slug’s illustration for this column is one of his most disturbing. IMHO. 😃 I guess that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/4 "2016-02-19T15:35:36Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also, apropos of the column rather than OP, Slug’s illustration for this column is one of his most disturbing. IMHO. 😃 > > I guess that’s a good thing. It’s be easier to pick one of his “least disturbing” illustrations. That way you’d have less than 1000 to choose from. ---
**Author:** ![waddlingeagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4da419/32.png) [@waddlingeagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waddlingeagle)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/5 "2016-02-19T15:53:19Z")
What the heck IS a lemming, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/6 "2016-02-19T21:16:17Z")
That took a left turn into other animal suicides without answering what I was interested in: even if their goal isn’t suicide, do the lemmings have unstoppable mass migrations? How big and how unstoppable? ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/7 "2016-02-19T22:53:23Z")
Did anyone else notice the glaring (for Cecil) grammar/spelling mistake in that column? To wit: \*"…less as \*\*an a \*_willful act of imagination and more as a mechanistic response to conditions?"_ First time I’ve ever seen one. My illusion of an infallible voice of reason is shattered… 😕 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/8 "2016-02-19T23:21:28Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Did anyone else notice the glaring (for Cecil) grammar/spelling mistake in that column? To wit: > > \*"…less as \*\*an a \*_willful act of imagination and more as a mechanistic response to conditions?"_ > > First time I’ve ever seen one. My illusion of an infallible voice of reason is shattered… 😕 Blame the editor. Cecil always has. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/9 "2016-02-19T23:57:20Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also, apropos of the column rather than OP, Slug’s illustration for this column is one of his most disturbing. IMHO. 😃 I simply don’t get it. Is the lemming (I guess it’s supposed to be a lemming, though it looks more like a fox to me) in the picture trying to commit suicide by butt-sniffing? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/10 "2016-02-20T00:11:17Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Also, apropos of the column rather than OP, Slug’s illustration for this column is one of his most disturbing. IMHO. 😃 > > I guess that’s a good thing. What’s supposed to be going on there? It looks like a fox hanging upside down staring at a women’s rear end while lemmings swim by or a river runs by underneath. ---
**Author:** ![excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e8c25b/32.png) [@excavating\_for\_a\_mind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/excavating_for_a_mind)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/11 "2016-02-20T00:29:55Z")
I guess the fox has found something a lot more interesting than lemmings. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/12 "2016-02-20T01:11:36Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > I simply don’t get it. Is the lemming (I guess it’s supposed to be a lemming, though it looks more like a fox to me) in the picture trying to commit suicide by butt-sniffing? I think it’s referring to this part: \* Underneath that Scottish bridge investigators found a colony of mink, whose anal scent glands apparently drive dogs wild — the pups were just lunging after a good smell.\* It’s not a fox it’s a dog, and a rather anthropomorphic ‘mink’… ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/13 "2016-02-20T01:26:45Z")
Ah, that makes some sense. Thanks! So, no lemmings in the picture. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/14 "2016-02-20T02:23:40Z")
Oh, so that’s it. The female personage with the big cheeks in the picture is _wearing_ a mink. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/15 "2016-02-20T16:22:59Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > a rather anthropomorphic ‘mink’… > [@Senegoid](#): > > The female personage with the big cheeks in the picture is _wearing_ a mink. The minx! ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/16 "2016-02-20T16:39:51Z")
Do peacocks just standing there while a tiger pounces count as suicide? A tiger with a belly full of peacock won’t hunt peahens, thus the next generation survives. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/17 "2016-02-20T17:05:01Z")
I wouldn’t call it suicide but dogs have been known to place themselves in mortal danger to protect humans. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/18 "2016-02-20T17:18:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **Hail Ants** : > > It’s not a fox it’s a dog, and a rather anthropomorphic ‘mink’… But she doesn’t look at all like Minerva. (side note: A Google image search for “Minerva Mink” is not safe for work, even with Safe Search turned on. In fact, the first NSFW images show up even _earlier_ with it turned on.) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/19 "2016-02-20T17:25:48Z")
If you live in a wooded neighborhood, you have probably seen a squirrel watching your approaching car, only to dash in front of the tires in what seems to suicide. We can guess at a spurned squirrel romance. As Cecil says, until some squirrel leaves a note, we can’t know for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2016, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541/20 "2016-02-20T17:38:58Z")
I still don’t get the illustration. What does a huge naked posterior have to do with lemmings? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lemmings/746541.md?page=2)