Meet Khokhulya (before it meets you, in your worst nightmares) – the new environmental mascot of the Kaluga region, Russia. This creepy creature appears at exhibitions, children’s events and in the streets of the region. The mascot promotes careful attitude to the nature while looking like something that came out of a fever dream.
Khokhulya is supposed to be an oversized and anthropomorphized Russian desman – a semi-aquatic mole species similar in size and lifestyle to the common muskrat. Should you find yourself wandering the highways and byways in Kaluga region, keep an eye out for Khokhulya, and keep your other eye on your radiation monitor, because there’s no way this nightmare-inducing monster haven’t crawled out from some radioactive waste dump.
Looks like this mascot has snacked too much at a nuclear waste site
XD
It’s not that creep, scary or whatever the children at eatliver are self-induced into believing. It’s an usualmascot but come on, you goofs make it sound like you’ve never been outside.
Have you never seen what a common mole looks like?
They are every gardeners nightmare because of their giant dirt mounds, but they are cute and their fur is soooo soft. (unless of course they are the cursed star nosed mole 😱)
There is even an Eastern Europe produced animated childrens series where the common mole is the main protagonist.
Love it!!!
I don’t know about any East European cartoon about moles, but there is a Central European cartoon about a mole. Krtek is the name of the cartoon. Alledgedly Krtek was inspired by Mickey Mouse and mole hill in the creators garden. It is Czech, and Czechs don’t see themself as East Europeans, they are Central Europeans.
I guess as a child of the Cold War era, anything former Warsaw Pact feels like Eastern Europe to me.
But it seems the scholars do put the line far further east than the Oder–Neisse line.
Funny how much a thing of the past can affect ones perception still today.
Czechoslovakia (what is was back then) was more open to western things always trying not to disgruntle the communist party and the Sowjet Union.
Their children TV productions always had a prolific cooperation with West German TV stations. Which resulted in many successful shows for children. Fun fact: One Cinderella based movie from 1973 is shown on German TV each christmas 1975. So for the last 46 years now. That’s how old I am.
You old Kraut, love your story