A photo of an 8-year-old Austrian boy, Matteo Walch, posing with a wild marmot (marmot) first appeared in the media in 2012 and was shared via social networking sites. This wonderful friendship is not accidental. Every year, Mateo's mother Michaela takes him to the Alps to visit his friends in the mountains for two weeks at a time. Mateo is now 11 years old.

Ever seen this famous photo? Mateo was 8 years old at the time.

Michaela, a teacher in Innsbruck (a city in the mountains in western Austria) and a lover of nature, said, We drove up the mountains for the first time when Mateo was 2 years old. Went to see the groundhogs, but he didn't see them until he was 4 years old.

8-year-old Mateo and Groundhog.

Usually groundhogs are shy, but in The Grossglockner (the second highest mountain in relative height in the Alps), they are used to seeing and trusting people. Humans can hand feed them carrots and apples. If there's anything special about Mateo's friendship with them, says Michaela, it's that he's always been patient with them.

Mikela also mentioned an interesting thing. , Mateo especially likes a groundhog, this little guy has no tail, so we can easily find it. It is always the first to come out to meet us. Do the math, the boy is one of the groundhog family. In the 10th year of the year, Michaela said I intend to continue.

From the age of 4 to 11, the friendship between Mateo and his friends in the mountains will continue.