The Greater Long-tailed Hamster (Tscherskia triton) is a major crop

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

-eating rodent that resides in Northern China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. It is the only member of the genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Tscherskia. Some authorities maintain that the 15th gua of the Yi Jing (I Ching

I Ching

The I Ching or "Yì Jīng" , also known as the Classic of Changes, Book of Changes and Zhouyi, is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts...

) refers repeatedly to this animal. The animal has been a major pest

Pest (animal)

A pest is an animal which is detrimental to humans or human concerns. It is a loosely defined term, often overlapping with the related terms vermin, weeds, parasites and pathogens...

 since ancient times and also has a habit of standing up on its rear legs and screaming

Screaming

A scream, shout, shriek, hoot, holler, vociferation, yell, outcry, or bellow is a loud vocalization in which air is passed through the vocal folds with greater force than is used in regular or close-distance vocalization...

loudly.