THE GERBILLE 



the dry sandy districts on the west from the Cape, 

 northwards. 



The sand dunes amongst which the Gerbilles 

 are usually found are covered more or less with 

 patches of hardy, stunted vegetation. Where this 

 cover is thickest the Gerbilles will be found. They 

 congregate in families or groups, and form exten- 

 sive burrows, which are approached by numbers 

 of passages, so as not to interfere with one another 

 in their journeyings in and out. In the burrows 

 are large central chambers containing beds or nests 

 of grass, where the Gerbilles congregate. - 



\Yhen a snake enters a burrow its inhabitants 

 hastily leave it and scatter over the surface of 

 the ground. The female Gerbille makes a nest 

 of grass, which she shreds with her sharp incisor 

 teeth. This nest is made at the extremity of 

 a special burrow, where the young are born. 

 The number of young at a birth averages from 

 five to as many as fifteen, and now and then 

 even more. The Gerbilles' most formidable ene- 

 mies are various species of snakes, such, for instance, 

 as the Mole Snake {Pseudaspis cana), the Ringhals 

 Cobra (Sepedon hamachates). Puff Adder (Bitis 

 arietans), Night Adder (Causus rhomheatus), and 

 the two species of Horned Adders {Bitis cornuta 

 and caudalis). A number of carnivorous animals 

 prey constantly upon the Gerbille, such, for in- 

 stance, as the Mungooses, Meercats, Muishonds, 

 Wild Cats, Jackals and Foxes. They are not even 



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