Shadows, Tokens, Spring by Ben Mauk

The Mongolian marmot, also known as tarbagan, is selectively hunted in the fall.
- Pre-hibernation behaviors include fattening on berries, roots, and lichens from the Altai Mountains.
- The hunting tradition of marmots dates back to the earliest human hunting practices.

Definition of Boodog: A traditional Mongolian dish involving cooking a marmot or goat using heated stones placed inside the carcass.
Cooking Process involves the following steps:
- Preparation: A marmot is skinned and deboned, leaving the inner structure intact.
- Skinning Technique: A recipe recommends hanging the animal and making incisions around the neck.
- Meat Extraction: Meat pulled downwards over the remaining skeleton, breaking legs at the knee.
- Retaining Organs: Liver and kidneys removed but saved for reinsertion later.
- Signature Cooking Trick: Reverting skin and meat back in place, filling with:
- Salt
- One or two peeled onions
- Smooth, round heated stones (smaller in legs, larger in abdomen).
Cooking Advice:
- If skin tightens during cooking, cut tiny holes to release pressure.
- Finished cooking identified by the leaking of fat from the skin.

Marco Polo's Accounts:
- Described tarbagan in relation to the diet of Tatars, citing the abundance of a similar creature known as ”Pharaoh’s mouse.”
John Bell's Observations:
- Provided detailed descriptions of marmots, highlighting their behavior and environmental adaptations.
Descriptions by Jean-Baptiste du Halde: Mentioned hunting practices and marmot populations in Asia.
- Observed marmots as alert animals that can detect danger and communicate through whistling before retreating to their burrows.
Physical Characteristics: Marmots are the largest in a family (Sciuridae) including squirrels and chipmunks.

There are fourteen known species of the Marmota genus, with nine residing in Eurasia.
Eurasian Diversity:
- Includes rose marmots, pink marmots, black-capped marmots, and long-tailed marmots.
Environmental Impact Due to Species Diversity:
- Result of transarctic migrations occurring over a million years ago.

Marmot Poison: Historical and contemporary understanding of marmots as potential plague carriers, discussed in scientific circles.
- Specific species identified (gray, red, Himalayan, and Mongolian marmots) as plague carriers.
- Reference to Richard Kephale's Medela Pestilentiae, which described symptoms and psychological impacts during plague outbreaks in historical contexts.

Various epidemics referenced:
- Great Plague of London (1665): Described gruesome implications of plague, management failures, and devastation among the population.
- Black Death (14th Century): Killed an estimated fifty million people and marked significant societal impacts.
- Bubonic plague characterized by its transmission through fleas, requiring rodent hosts, while pneumonic plague spreads via human droplets.

Striking account of the Great Manchurian Plague, claiming 60,000 lives, with notable observations by Wu Lien-Teh:
- Indications of public health failures and the disintegration of sanitary conditions due to widespread fear and negligence.
- Description of burial practices and a backlog of unburied corpses due to frozen grounds.
- Investigative efforts using medical techniques to identify disease vectors, including flea studies on marmots.

Highlighted techniques in modern medicine and the importance of recognizing human transmission of diseases.
Advocated for sanitary practices and advanced measures against pestilence, contrasted with primitive methods employed at the time.

Observations of cultural perceptions regarding the shamefulness of the disease, discrimination, and the response of migrant workers.
Tensions between Chinese and Russian authorities, alongside coercive measures taken during quarantine efforts.

Reflections on the cyclical nature of travel and disease, connecting historical pandemics to modern scenarios including COVID-19.
- Commentary on the metaphoric parallels between tourism and epidemics, suggesting a deeper understanding of movement in biological and sociopolitical contexts.
- Historical accounts of zoonotic diseases and implications of changing human behaviors on disease transmission.

Exploration of traditional beliefs and rituals surrounding illness and seasonal changes, such as Groundhog Day.
- Suggested potential connections between ancient practices and modern understandings of disease management and cultural responses.