Lemmings are small rodents found in America, northern Europe and Asia. A lot of them live in Norway. Over the years, they developed a nutty reputation from throwing themselves off cliffs or into rivers. This mass destruction looks like suicide on a huge scale – but don’t always go for the obvious.
Lemmings do not commit suicide any more than other creatures. What happens is that in years when they have lots to eat, they breed rapidly. Soon there is not enough food to feed them all and they have to move to somewhere else that has more food. Thousands set off in a great wave. On they go, pushed by a desperate need to find fresh supplies of food. This urge becomes so frantic that many do fall into rivers. Some even fall over cliffs into the sea. You can see why people think they might be trying to kill themselves. But the reverse is true. The ones that die are killed trying to find food to stay alive.
Picture Credit : Google
