3 Facts About Lemmings

Lemmings are small, thickset vole-like animals that live in the Arctic tundra. They live in a harsh environment, are super-cute, kinda mean, and totally misunderstood.

But here at SciShow we're going to set the record straight with 3 Actual Facts About Lemmings.

--
Looking for SciShow elsewhere on the internet?

Sources for this episode:

[NerysMacMorn]

Thank you, Hank, for bringing up that point about Bambi. My dad and I were just talking about this last week. Fawns are born in the spring, but the deer mating season is in the fall. They're pregnant all through the autumn and winter months, and deliver in the spring. Bambi's mother, apparently, was one of the last to gestate, hence his late birth.

I love watching SciShow. You're so funny, and so informative!

[CortezEspartaco]

It got an academy award for best documentary and it was filmed in a place where lemmings don't even live. Amazing.

[puppy]

When I as in 6th grade, my LA teacher had shown us a video showing lemmings' "mass suicide" and said it was true. I raised my hand and said it wasn't, but EVERYONE in the room believed it... They must have thought I was an idiot... GUESS WHO'S LAUGHING NOW!!!

[EasterWitch]

I'm Scandinavian, so I have encountered mass migration of lemmings. It's very fascinating, but also sad, because when they cross roads they are often crushed by cars. I have heard of places where so many lemmings have died that parts of the road would become as slippery as if it were covered in ice...
Some people thought that if they got to angry they would explode, but that is false. They may die if you torment them to much, but never explode.
Please don't torment the lemmings!

[joheyjonsson]

Lemmings are also extremely annoying!! Car accidents multiply during lemming explosion years in Sweden. They are very cute, though.

[blueaddison]

Lemmings are also video game characters which look nothing like the animal and instead look like little green haired people who wear blue.

[schwarzerritter]

#4 Lemmings don't have green hair.

[sojourner]

JUSTICE FOR THOSE LEMMINGS: Disney should be _forced_ to give BACK the award they won through deceit and animal cruelty, and the award for that year should go to the true winner that year, whoever that is. THANK YOU for this video, well done!

[sysghost]

Proud to say that I knew this already for some time.
But that doesn't stop me from playing the computer game "Lemmings". ;)

Lemmings was one of the most played games on my Amiga.

[JohnWilliams-kmhx]

Disney:
Is throwing lemmings off a cliff REALLY more disturbing than them choosing the rat for its mascot?

[scifirocks]

Lemmings do well if you give them umbrellas when they fall off cliffs, otherwise, oh no!

[Kunabee]

I have depression.
I want to be happy.
It has taken me YEARS to be able to cope with a mixture of meds and coping skills learned from my therapist to have it be almost non-existant.
I still have to see my therapist.

[alexjonezNH]

Oooh, that would be an excellent video! I had always considered glass to be in that semi-solid category (like jell-o), but it would be great to see what Hank thinks about it!

[leavesonwheels]

but why did they do that to the lemmings? what were they trying to accomplish??

[Dementat]

But to they scream "oh no!" in cute fashion before they explode?

[carltheodorgustavsson]

In Norway we have lemmings in the mountains, the creatures can get really pissed! And children are told that a lemming can get so pissed that it blows up...
And an other thing to look at is that the last years in Norway, the population of lemmings have not got as big as it used to every 4th year, this has resulted in near extinction for our mountain foxes...

[catherineroberts]

THANK YOU!! Lemmings aren't stupid. No creature is THAT dumb. Some animals may murder other animals, but they would not kill themselves. Because it is not a part of their instincts to throw themselves off a cliff once they find life too boring. If it were, there would be no Lemmings or animals left on this planet. Bravo SciShow, making people look like fools, once again.

[foxythunder]

Disney continued this trend in Zootopia, where Nick sets up shop outside the “Lemmings Bros. Bank” and sells popsicles to ALL the lemmings, just because the first one decided to.

[Slagdar]

oh hank, next thing you're gonna tell me is that they don't have Green hair, and do not walk on 2 legs.

[soCptObvious]

this i won't argue with, some therapists are just Rx happy. but generally the ones that don't need the help, phase out with in a few months....the really depressed patients end up either taking like 5-8 types of meds (one antidepressant, one to counteract the nausea the first one causes, one to counteract the shakiness the second one causes etc, ) or they end up in rehab centers....and the idea that people can't see it as a real illness is sickening to me. no one wants to be like that.