BLESMOL, MOLE RAT AND SAND MOLE 



In a specimen in the Port Elizabeth Museum, 

 the incisor teeth of the upper and lower jaws did not 

 meet evenly. This resulted in an abnormal growth 

 of the teeth. The creature was adult and in good 

 condition when captured, and in spite of its crippled 

 dental condition it had evidently been able to provide 

 sufficient food for its needs. How it did so is a 

 mystery, for the incisor teeth were not only useless, 

 but a distinct hindrance. It possibly worked bits 

 of root, small bulbs and seeds into its mouth by 

 dint of great perseverance. 



Although these burrowing rodents are destructive 

 to root-crops, they fulfil a mission, and a useful one, 

 for, like the Mole, they are Nature's ploughmen. In 

 the search for food they tunnel the ground in all 

 directions, throwing up mounds of earth and loosen- 

 ing the soil, which allows the rain to percolate down 

 into the sub-soil. Land which slopes more or less 

 would become so hard on the surface, unless dis- 

 turbed by Moles, Blesmols and other burrowing 

 creatures, that when rain fell upon it the water 

 would rush away. In time all but the hardiest 

 forms of vegetation would die off, and eventually 

 the land would become desert-like, unless, of course, 

 a great abundance of rain fell. 



The giant among these burrowing mole-like 

 animals is known as the Sand Mole or Zand Mol. It 

 is also called the Duin Mol and Hippopotamus Mole. 

 There are two species in South Africa ; the common 

 one is known to scientific men as Bathyergus suillus 



