Gopher Burrows to Surface to Enjoy Outdoor Music Festival
A gopher appeared to have burrowed to the surface to enjoy a musical performance alongside other attendees at this year's OpenAir St. Gallen festival in Switzerland. The pocket-sized rodent was spotted taking in a gig by German electro-indie rock act Milky Chance (pictured above) and their recent hit "Colorado" at the music fest on July 3.
The animal is called a mole in the viral video that captures the in-ground concertgoer. "There was a special guest at Openair St. Gallen," music fan Daniele Gugliotta adds alongside the clip on TikTok, which is nearing 10 million views. It's likewise gaining ground on Instagram. Gugliotta is selling mole merch with the animal's image on T-shirts.
Watch the video toward the bottom of this post.
But the animal seems to be a gopher rather than the European Mole native to Switzerland, with the gopher's tell-tale large front teeth and not the pink-ish snout of a mole. Gophers, moles, groundhogs and prairie dogs are all small mammals that burrow underground.
What would you do if you saw such a creature enjoying a festival concert down alongside you? And this little guy got the deal of a lifetime — he didn't even have to buy a ticket. And he may just be the coolest music-loving gopher since Caddyshack.
OpenAir St. Gallen, founded in 1977 and which takes place annually just outside the Swiss town of St. Gallen, is one of Switzerland's longest-running outdoor festivals. It returned this summer after missing the two previous years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2022 lineup featured English rockers Muse as headliner. Learn more here.