Ground squirrels stole tourists' car keys, prompting the entire village to search for them for four hours.

(Dan Tri Newspaper) - A tourist's trip to southwestern China turned into a "treasure hunt" when his car keys were stolen by a ground squirrel, prompting the entire village to dig and search for them.

According to the South China Morning Post , this unusual incident occurred on August 3rd in Genie town (Litang county, Sichuan province, China). The owner of the stolen car keys is a person known on social media by the nickname Dog Brother.

He recounted that while he was out strolling with friends, a marmot – a rodent belonging to the squirrel family, usually found in high mountain areas – unexpectedly snatched his car keys and burrowed into a hole.

Fang, a female member of the Dog Brother group, said that her group visited an area with many ground squirrel burrows, where the animals were emerging to forage for food.

Ground squirrels are rodents commonly found in mountainous regions (Photo: South China Morning Post).

Upon seeing the rodents, Fang's son excitedly ran to the car to get fruit and snacks for them. The group members placed their bags next to the ground squirrel burrow, containing food, phones, and car keys, and then happily let the children play with the animals.

"Unexpectedly, while I was distracted, a ground squirrel snatched the food from my bag and dragged the car keys down into its burrow, right in front of us," Fang recounted.

As soon as they discovered the key had been stolen, the tourists immediately tried to poke it down into the cave with sticks but failed, so they had to call on the villagers for help.

A viral video shows locals and tourist volunteers quickly gathering and digging, "sweeping" the area around the ground squirrel burrows in search of the key.

"They tried every way to retrieve the key, even calling on local livestock farmers for help. They experimented with using magnets to retrieve the key, poking steel wire into the burrow, and trying various other tools. Eventually, the village chief and local leaders joined the search," Fang told Jiangxi Provincial Radio and Television.

The search, which lasted from 3 PM to 7 PM, was finally successful: the key was pulled out of the cave thanks to a powerful magnet.

Many local residents pitched in to help find the tourist's car keys (Photo: South China Morning Post).

This humorous incident is reminiscent of a similar event in Litang last month, when a sports camera was dragged down into a burrow by a ground squirrel while tourists were feeding them. Unlike this time, the camera was never found.

Following two consecutive incidents, local authorities have warned tourists against feeding ferrets, as there is a potential risk of disease transmission and bites leading to infection.

The story quickly became a hot topic of discussion on Chinese social media. One netizen humorously commented: "Perhaps in its burrow, the ground squirrel is recording a video showing off: 'Hello everyone, today I just bought a new car.'"

Others joked, "With both a sports camera and car keys, the ground squirrel must be preparing to become a travel blogger."

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/du-lich/chon-dat-cuom-chia-khoa-xe-cua-du-khach-ca-lang-dao-boi-suot-4-gio-tim-20250816214747089.htm