THE BUSH OTOMYS 



white. The incisor teeth are stout, strongly 

 curved, yellow, and the upper ones are deeply 

 grooved. The lower incisors are also grooved, but 

 the grooving is nearer the outer edge of the tooth 

 than is the case in the incisor teeth of the upper 

 jaw. 



THE BUSH OTOMYS 



(Otomys unisulcatus) 



The Bush Otomys inhabits the Karoo and scrub- 

 covered lands all over the Cape Province, includ- 

 ing Namaqualand. It is common around Port 

 Elizabeth, and in the neighbouring forest belts 

 and scrub-covered flats, hill-sides and valleys. As 

 a general rule, the Vley Otomys keeps to the 

 marshy localities, and in the vicinity of ponds, 

 spruits and rivers. The Bush Otomys, on the 

 contrary, makes its home chiefly in the more or less 

 sandy districts wherever there is a sufficiency of cover. 

 This animal has a peculiar but very effective way 

 of protecting itself and its young from many of its 

 enemies, and at the same time securing a snug and 

 cosy home. It selects a low, thick shrub, or matted 

 clump of grass, etc., and packs it full of small 

 twigs or grass stems, from the ground to above the 

 top of the shrub. In the interior of this citadel 

 the Bush Otomys has tunnels in all directions. It 

 also constructs burrows in the ground immediately 

 beneath the shrub, and when threatened by a foe 



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