APPENDIX C 
485 
traps one afternoon I saw what might have been one of these rats dart from 
a deserted bird’s nest, and run down a limb to the ground. The following 
morning I caught a masked tree rat in a trap set beneath the nest. 
Four-striped Grass Rat {Afvicanthus pumilio minutus). At Naivasha we first came 
across this species, where it was found on the east side of the lake only, although 
the spotted rat was common on both the east and the west side. At Naivasha 
these two animals inhabited slightly different regions. In the brushy and 
grassy thickets bordering the lake spotted rats were abundant, but a few four- 
striped rats were captured. As soon as the traps were transferred to thorn- 
tree groves where there was plenty of under-bushes, and not so much grass 
and weeds, the spotted rats were found in great numbers, but no four-striped 
rats. All the way from Fort Hall to Mount Kenia and as high as 10,700 feet, 
where Dr. Mearns secured one specimen, this species was common. We also 
caught them along the route between Kampala and Butiaba. 
Giant Rat (Thrynomys gregorianus). Along the skirtings of the rivers in the thick 
weeds, grass, and bushes at Fort Hall signs of these animals were common. 
There were no well-defined paths. Footprints the size and shape of those 
made by our muskrats {Fiber) were found in the mud at the water’s edge, and 
here and there were clusters of grass and weed stems cut in lengths averaging 
six inches. In sections where the vegetation had been burned were in.numer- 
able holes where some animal had dug about the base of grass tufts. Their 
signs did not extend further than fifty feet from water. While passing through 
a thicket close to the water, I started a large rodent which darted through the 
grass and plunged into the water. 
Mole Rat {Tachyoryctes splendens ibeanus). Mounds of earth that these rats had 
thrown from the mouth of their burrows at the time that the tunnels were made, 
were found as far west as Oljoro O’Nyon River, but none at N’garri Narok 
River. At our camp on the South Guaso Nyero River a pale mole-colored 
mole rat took this animal’s place. Some fifteen miles west of Lake Naivasha 
mole rats became common, and on the sandy flats within five miles of the lake 
they were so abundant that our horses broke into their runways nearly every 
step. Their underground tunnels and the mounds of earth that were thrown 
out were similar to those made by the pocket gophers of western United 
States. Many were snared by the porters and brought to camp alive. They 
would crawl about slowly, not attempting to run away, but looking for a hole 
to enter. After the lapse of a few seconds they would begin to dig. In any 
slight depression they began work, and when small roots or a tussock of grass 
intervened, they used their teeth until the obstruction was removed, and then 
with the nails of their front feet only, continued digging. As the hole deepened 
they threw the dirt out between their hind legs and with them still further be¬ 
yond. After the earth had accumulated so that it drifted back they faced about 
and using their chest as a scoop, pushed it entirely out of the way. They were 
most active in the evening, at night, and in early morning. Several were found 
dead near their holes, having evidently been killed by owls or small carnivorous 
mammals. 
Alpine Mole Rat {Tachyoryctes rex). Mole rat mounds were common about the West 
Kenia Forest Station, but none were seen between 7,500 and 8,500 feet, and 
from this altitude they ranged to 11,000 feet. They inhabited all of the open 
grassy plots in the bamboo belt and in the open timber. The “boys” snared 
