Talk:Lemming
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Looks like the page has been vandalized. Someone who knows how to revert should probably do so.
- reverted Jon513 22:44, 4 May 2006 (UTC)
A picture of a lemming would be excellent for this page. (Taken care of) Redwolf24
I think the large section about that Disney movie has nothing to do in an article on the lemming. I would remove this section to to a new article under the film title, and just refer to this article concerning the lemming suicide myth. -- Peter Kristoffersen
- Since there's already an article on White Wilderness, this makes sense to me. Done. --Paul A 06:32, 4 Mar 2004 (UTC)
- I think the section should stay here. I was just trying to prove the point to coworkers, that the myth about lemmings jumping of cliffs is just that -- a myth. The article on lemmings was therefore ideal place to seek the information about this particular myth. And so I've found it here, together with its source. User:rrw
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- Changing 'American Slang' to 'Slang', since it is not just American, as evidenced by 'Alexander Lemming' in the long-running 'Calamity James' strip in The Beano. Also, it absolutely has it's place in an article on Lemmings, since it is what most people think of when they hear 'lemming'.
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- Anyone else think that it should be expressly stated that Lemmings don't become suicidal, rather than suggested by the text? It's a simple fact that it isn't true.. Lemmings simply migrate when there is a population boom, and most of their deaths are simply a result of accidents in moving to unfamiliar territory.--Vercalos 00:19, 10 November 2005 (UTC)
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- So while suicidal might not be exactly correct, seemingly suicidal behavior and usually-fatal migration are accurate. I'd jump off a cliff too if I had a very thick crowd of charging humans behind me. The alternative is to get trampled to death. 24.170.177.163 08:09, 28 November 2005 (UTC)
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- So, does no one else believe that, at best, the first paragraph in Population Fluctuations (as of June 01, 2006) is more suitable under Popular Culture? Byakuren 21:00, 1 June 2006 (UTC)
The paragraph that says that its is a myth that Lemmings kill themselves is contradicted by the next paragraph that says that Lemmings fail to avoid obvious dangers. Most of this talk page talks about the "myth" of Lemming suicide, yet the page itself says that Lemmings fall off cliffs or drown themselves. Nobody (I hope) is stupid enough to think that Lemmings do it because they want to, but they obviously do die when they could have avoided the danger easily. I think that the Myth that Lemming Suicide is a Myth needs to be purged from this article. (but I'm not enough of a punk to just do it) John
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- Just seen QI on BBC 4 (next week's edition) and one of their "Wrong answers" was that Disney invented the lemming uicide myth. Apparently it's been found as far back as a 1908 encyclopaedia, I didn't catch the name. I've added this but have left the Disney reference as I'm guessing that's what really popularised it. Also random blog post on it, linking to an article? Rawling 22:07, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] 20 grams?!
How can they weigh 20 grams? 1) they have to weigh much more than 2 grams per centimeter 2) look how fat it is!! Redwolf24 00:35, 13 July 2005 (UTC)
- I imagine much of their size is purely made up of fur, stick your finger in a gerbil (that is, it's fur, not an of it's orifices).. there is quite alot of a way to go before you actually hit it's body.
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- I believe that is quite common for rodents, actually, I heard that a chinchilla could get through much narrower pipes than would be expected, looking at its size.
The myth that Lemmings commit suicide was not created by Disney in it's film released in 1958 as Arthur C Clark wrote a short story regarding this myth published in March 1953 in Dynamic Science Fiction.
- Predates that, too. (Good story, though). Disney was much more effective at popularising the already-existing myth widely than Clarke was, though... Shimgray | talk | 18:54, 17 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Article is Equivocal
Either
"The actual reason for their 'suicide' deaths is because lemmings have notoriously poor eyesight and cannot distinguish a small river, which they can easily cross, from a fjord, in which they will almost surely drown."
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"In fact, the behavior of lemmings is much the same as that of many other rodents which have periodic population booms and then disperse in all directions, seeking the food and shelter that their natural habitat cannot provide. (The Australian Long-haired Rat is one example.)"
This article does a really bad job of making it clear whether lemmings do or do not die in unusually enormous quantities.
The references are for the most part sub-academic, and most appear to have, like the article itself, a fixation on White Wilderness.
So, 3 Questions: Do lemmings die in large quantities? Is that behavior unusual for rodents? Where is your source attributing this to poor eyesight? --Nick 16:15, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
Someone vandalized this page, I took off the vandal's message, but the text is still cut. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 201.6.85.240 (talk • contribs) .
- Thanks for letting us know. It was hard to track down the source of the vandalism. Powers 14:40, 5 August 2006 (UTC)
[edit] (Vandalism) Uh, That Was Me
Sorry, I just REALLY hate lemmings.And the fact that I'm a teenager may have something to do with it...Hm. Anyway I won't do it again. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.160.77.213 (talk • contribs) .
[edit] Search
When I searched for "lemmings" or "lemming" it took me to the video game, this should be fixed —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 24.186.45.133 (talk • contribs) .
- Searching for "Lemming" brings you here. "Lemmings" takes you to the video game. Both articles have links to the other. That's about the best we can do. Powers T 20:26, 3 September 2006 (UTC)
[edit] code problems
the side box with info seems to overlap with the first section, is there anyone who knows wikicode well enough to fix it? --voodoom 04:18, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
