Did you know that a huge amount of drivers in Russia have video cameras installed on their dashboards? These so-called “dashcams” are constantly recording, and as a result, Russia has provided the world with more than their fair share of curious road videos.
This one in particular was taken on the Russian island of Olkhon. When the video begins, the car has stopped to avoid hitting a Bobak marmot struggling in the middle of the road. Is the animal injured? No, it’s just become so portly that it can’t escape its own burrow. The helpful driver does his best to assist the poor creature, and his passenger finally uses a towel to grasp it around the waist and tug it out of the hole. The presumably mortified marmot makes a quick getaway, and will hopefully lay off the sweets for a little while. The Bobak marmot is very similar in appearance to North America’s prairie dogs and gophers, and has been a valuable source of food and fur during times of famine in Russia and Ukraine.