The lemming is a little arctic rodent, living mainly in tundra where it
can build tunnels everywhere. The lemming is known to be quite
prolific, and actually, lemmings have high reproductive rate. In case
of overpopulation, lemmings tend to leave in every direction looking
for food and shelter. That’s why lemming is considered as a suicidal
animal. The truth about that strange behaviour 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. Legends slightly exaggerate this behaviour characterize just a
few animals and are strictly accidental. There are no mass suicidal
tendencies in these cute lil’ rodents.
source : flickr (kristians) and wikipedia