What we can learn from a groundhog

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Per Wikipedia:

The groundhog (Marmota monax), also known as a woodchuck, whistle-pig, or in some areas as a land-beaver, is a rodent of the family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground squirrels known as marmots.

I was just standing at my office window and I noticed a whistle pig, as they are called in my home state, hanging out in the neighbor's yard scavenging for edibles in the flowerbed. I opened the window to shoo it away and it went perfectly still. Stopped chewing. Perked up and it could have been a lawn ornament for how still it was. Instead of shouting I watched it and it went back to nibbling and grabbing leaves. Then it stopped again totally still, perked up. Not even chewing. Then back to it.

I watched it for 5 minutes repeat this process - every 5 seconds of eating separated by 5 seconds of complete and utter stillness; and, maybe it's only because I've been playing so ever-loving much of this game lately, but it immediately reminded me of DayZ. An animal that lives its life constantly under threat of death from terrors known and unseen; humans, all manner of animals ground-based and airborne, motor vehicles, insects, farming equipment, poisons, natural disaster - every moment of every day of your short life fearing a painful and untimely demise. That's what it's like to be a groundhog.

And here he was gathering supplies with precisely the kind of careful precision that I apply in DayZ. Not brute force, guns-blazing, grab it all and blast the windows out, but methodical. First, an exit strategy. Where's the nearest cover and what's the shortest route? Okay, take a nibble then stop. Wait patiently. Listen for gunshots or footsteps or that special shuffle shuffle of nipples on pavement. Check the doors. Communicate. Okay, take a nibble stop. Check the treeline. Check the barn door. Check the back room for people server hopping. Communicate. Nibble, nibble stop. Was that a gunshot okay get low. Listen. Which direction, how far. Watch the zombies they're the key. Can I get away or do I take up a strategic point and wait?

It's a method that has served me well and it seems to work for the whistle pigs. If you're having trouble staying alive in DayZ in the face of all you meet try to channel the groundhog. Slow down, plan ahead, be patient and above all be aware. Check, double check and triple check. With a friend you can sextuple check.

Footsteps are loud. Gunshots are loud. Angry zombies are loud and for people who hunt survivors they are like giant dinner bells with feet. Follow the zombies and find the beans. Your beans. That's the world you live in now. You're a groundhog now. Be the groundhog.

Groundhogs raised in captivity can be socialized relatively easily; however, their aggressive nature can pose problems. Doug Schwartz, a zookeeper and groundhog trainer at the Staten Island Zoo, has been quoted as saying "They’re known for their aggression, so you’re starting from a hard place. [Their] natural impulse is to kill ’em all and let God sort ’em out. You have to work to produce the sweet and cuddly."

Edited August 1, 2012 by ZedsDeadBaby

[imagelesskjc 35]

Huh, so we can learn more from them than just the weather patterns?

Who would have thunk it? :D

[usszim 35]

Interesting and insightful thread

[qksilvr73 4]

so I tried this method. Crawled, stopped, nibbled, crawled onto cement at fire station. agro'd the zombies. WTF. Never used to do that. Ohh I died...

[SupWithThat 2]

I've been alive for 11 days now, every day I hit places like Berezino, Stary Sobor and Vybor (sometimes even NW airfield) - not because I need loot but because I enjoy the rush of not knowing if I'm going to come under fire and having to think fast on my feet when the shit hits the fan.

All of the practices you mentioned are things that I've been doing naturally through experience without even really thinking anything of it, really - Countless stupid deaths on my part and rushed raids have fine tuned my approach to situations, not to mention the fact I know the layout of most of the loot rich towns off by heart now.

I'm also at a stage now where I've been seperated from my group for a couple days and have been operating exclusively solo - I've been putting a lot more effort and awareness into everything I do, every raid becoming more and more taxing as I get myself into increasingly difficult situations just for the thrill of surviving them in the end.

Unique is the mod that can make you feel this way.

[Kolchak (DayZ) 5]

Gotta commend you on this one Zed, situational awareness is what I've seen people forget/ignore more than anything else in this game and it gets them killed most of the time.

[cureforyou@gmail.com 0]

Props for this man. Great advice. One of my main tips for my friends when they start is to sometimes just stop, look, and listen. Take a few minutes even just to make sure. I think a lot of new players could use to read this.

[Panama Jack 0]

that special shuffle shuffle of nipples on pavement

In my home state we call that crawling.

[Dingus (DayZ) 429]

cool thread, i enjoyed it

[Elwood (DayZ) 8]

Always appreciate your posts Zed.

[Wired 1]

Maybe if you went screaming full speed at the groundhog since you spotted him despite his stillness, it'd be a bit closer to Day Z. that, and your first hit broke his leg.

[bad_mojo (DayZ) 1204]

The grassy corner outside my work must be like NWAF because that damn whistle pig is always camping it. I see him there almost everyday.

[adriandmu@gmail.com 3]

Nibble.

[funionz 7]

[fml 29]

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

...

I'm not even sure. I mean, what?

[ssiilleesskkyy@googlemail.com 1]

I do exactly this when I am away from my DayZ partner and playing solo. Take everything very slowly, observe my surroundings before attempting a loot pick up. Quite a lot of wild animals are like this. Great post.

[pilot 13]

I play more like a moth. I see a light it in the night, I flip my NVG's on and head towards it, hoping to find the corpse of a player who made a mistake. If they are still alive I do my best to kill them by proxy, throwing smoke on them or just a few tin cans near them.

Why? Because I don't like shooting people. And my way makes them piss themselves

[Aeoneth 163]

Did this yesterday on a loot trip to starry and again to NWAF.

Paused in the treeline and pulled my binocs out. See no movement, wait, all of a sudden Zeds spawn at starry tents. Immediately Call out the player (though THAT was a stupid thing to do) waited for him to leave then waited for the zeds to despawn. Paused again, when the coast was clear I went again. Heard what I thought was a zed aggroing and immediately took cover. after an all quiet moment went about my business then repeated the procedure for NWAF.

My patience was rewarded with a coyote pack with 2 bloodpacks and 3 cooked meat + a M107 and 3 mags stuffed inside it. and 3 Stanag SD mags for my new M4A1 CCO

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Might be time for the new crop of DayZ players to learn from the groundhog.