BLESMOL, MOLE RAT AND SAND MOLE 



These mole-like rodent animals tunnel in the 

 ground and cast up hills after the manner of the 

 Golden Moles of South Africa. They are found in 

 both cultivated and uncultivated lands. They, 

 however, prefer the former, for the reasons that the 

 soil is easier to tunnel through, and because of the 

 succulent root crops which constitute the diet of 

 these animals. In their tunnelling operations, it is 

 necessary to get rid of the excavated earth, and this 

 is thrown up in the form of hills, which mark the 

 direction of the excavation. At intervals, branching 

 tunnels are constructed for the purpose of reaching 

 some coveted root which, if not devoured at once, 

 is carried away to the end of the main tunnel and 

 stored up in a specially-constructed roundish cham- 

 ber with smooth walls, capable of holding a consider- 

 able quantity of provender. Here the animal 

 packs away a large store of roots, bulbs, tubers and 

 seeds for winter use. 



The bulbs have the tops carefully bitten off to 

 prevent them from sprouting. When potatoes 

 are available, all other forms of diet are neglected, 

 and, entering the potato fields, these destructive 

 rodents carry off the tubers to their subterranean 

 retreats and store them up. The crafty little fellows 

 are well aware that in the moist earth the potatoes 

 would soon begin to sprout, so, to prevent this, the 

 buds or eyes of the tubers are carefully nipped out. 



If kept in captivity and fed on bulbs, roots, tubers 

 and fruits, these little animals live and thrive, but 

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