Are groundhogs harmless? Detailed answer

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Are groundhogs harmless? Detailed answer

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Did you know?

Are groundhogs harmless?

No, because they kill people. Cough them to death.

Marmots (or marmots) are good-natured bellies, representatives of the squirrel family. They are about the size of a cat and squeak loudly in case of danger. However, this is where their charm ends. A Mongolian variety, the steppe (or common) marmot, is particularly susceptible to an infectious lung disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, better known as bubonic plague.

Groundhogs spread the plague by coughing on neighbors; infecting fleas, rats and eventually humans. All the great epidemics that swept through East Asia and mowed down Europe came from the steppe Mongolian marmots. Historians estimate that the death toll from the plague has exceeded one billion, placing the groundhog second only to the malarial mosquito in the list of mankind's greatest killers.

When a marmot or human becomes a victim of plague, the lymph nodes under their armpits and in their groin blacken and swell (such ulcers are called "buboes", from the Greek boubon, "groin", hence the word "bubonic"). The Mongol will never touch the groundhog's armpits, because "the soul of a dead hunter hides there."

The remaining parts of the marmot are considered a delicacy in Mongolia. Local hunters perform whole rituals before sneaking up on their prey: they put on fake rabbit ears, dance and wave their yak tail. The caught marmot is roasted whole over hot stones. Alpine groundhog fat is valued in Europe as a healing ointment for rheumatism.

Other representatives of marmots include the prairie dog and the North American woodchuck. Groundhog Day is celebrated on February 2. Every year, a groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil, who lives on Turkey Hill in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is removed from an electrically heated burrow. Tuxedo-clad "keepers" ask Phil a question: does he see his own shadow? If the groundhog whispers "yes", then the winter will last another six weeks. Since 1887, the meteorologist Phil has never been wrong.

Bubonic plague has not left us to this day - the last serious outbreak occurred in India in 1994. Plague is one of three diseases on the U.S. list of diseases requiring mandatory quarantine (the other two are yellow fever and cholera).

Author: John Lloyd, John Mitchinson

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

Why are the inhabitants of the city of Torzhok called Novotors?

Residents of the city of Torzhok in the Tver region are correctly called "innovators". The strange discrepancy between the name of the city and the inhabitants is explained by the fact that in ancient times the city changed its name more than once. At first he was just a Torgov, then he became a New Torgov. And since that time, the word "innovators" has not changed with the next change in the name of the city.

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