A scenic road trip in southwestern China unexpectedly turned into a quirky “treasure hunt” when a tourist’s car keys were snatched by a playful groundhog, prompting an entire village to join in a frantic digging mission to recover them.
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The unusual incident took place on August 3 in Genie Town, Litang County, Sichuan province, when a netizen known as “Dog Brother” shared his experience online. He recounted how a groundhog grabbed his keys in its mouth and swiftly darted back into its burrow while he and his friends were exploring the area.
Fang, a female member of the group, explained that they had ventured to a spot near a groundhog burrow, where several of the animals were emerging in search of food. Her child, thrilled by the sight, immediately grabbed some fruit and snacks from the car to feed them.
With plenty of treats to share, they placed the snacks – along with a mobile phone and the car keys – into a single bag nearby while the children entertained themselves feeding the animals.
“To my surprise, while my attention was diverted, a groundhog not only ‘stole’ snacks from the bag but, right before my family’s eyes, dragged the car keys into its burrow,” Fang recalled.
Despite their efforts to retrieve the keys with a stick, they could not reach them, prompting them to seek help from the local villagers.
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An online trending video showed how swiftly villagers and local tourism volunteers arrived at the scene, uniting in a “digging holes” and “carpet search” effort to recover the car keys.
