The Naked Mole Rat First let me state that i have a problem with this animal being referred to as naked. I never knew fur was considered clothing on animals. The last time i checked, all animals were naked. Now with that being said, lets get down to the topic of discussion, the hairless mole rat.
Do you know that the Naked or hairless mole rat is not the only type of mole rat? The word "naked" just seems to grab everyone's attention, I wonder why? There are about 30 different types of mole rats in existence. There are blind mole rats and hairy mole rats, just to name a few. But the focus today as always is on our shameless rodent, the naked mole rat.
Why Is The Naked Mole Rat Naked?
The mole rat did not get his underwear wet and decided to go birthday suit. The naked mole rat has a hairless, tabular body which looks wrinkled. As the name suggest, the hairless mole rat is a rodent. But this type of rat seems to live his life like a bee. The naked mole rat form what one would call a community. Rats will come together to form colonies. The colonies are led by the Top Rat. Like the bee, the top rat is also a female mole rat or you could call her the "Naked Mole Rat Queen." Sounds like the title for a good blockbuster! And just like the bee, only the queen mole rat is allowed to produce off springs.
Naked Mole Rat Ranks
Remember when previously i told you that the naked mole rat lives in communities? Well these community has hierarchy. Just like it is in the world of man, so it shall be in the mole rat world. There are what you could classify as worker mole rats, they get paid the minimum wages of course, has dreadful long working hours and gets no love at the end of the day. These worker mole rats are in charge of digging burrows for the entire clan. They basically design the mole rats living colony space. After digging and digging, while the Queen rat and her royal subjects sit and wait for the jobs to be completed, the worker moles will then have to go gather foods to feed their beloved queen and all other rats in that colony.
Long Live The Mole Rat Breeding Queen
The queens subjects simply tend to the queens business, making sure her crown fits, getting her ball dress ready, you know, things queens do. But aside from preparing for balls. The mole rats that attend to the queen will bring her shrubs and ensure that she is safely moved from one area to the next inside the colony. The Queens sole purpose in the rat colony is to breed more rats. She can have up to approximately 26 baby mole rats in one go. The Queen is also capable of producing that amount up to 5 times per year. In my calculations, that's a lot of baby rats to dish out. When all naked pups are birth, the queen attendants will take the babies and carry them to the area in the colony designed for the babies to nurse and clean up. Then after the queen as recuperated from giving birth to all those pups, she will go down to the nursery and then allow all the babies to feed.
Why Do Mole Rats Have Such Long Teeth?
Next time you go to sleep, you better make sure you have a garlic chain around your neck, or else the mole rat will suck on your....sorry guys, that's just an extract from a book i intend on writing called; Vampire Mole Rats - The Shrub Suckers!" Anyway, animals tend to be designed specifically to do specific task. The mole rat's huge exposed upper and lower incisors are needed because of manly two things:
Where Do Naked Mole rats Live?
Mole Rats are spread near and far. But these are the areas and conditions they prefer.
Why Is The Naked Mole Rat Naked?
The mole rat did not get his underwear wet and decided to go birthday suit. The naked mole rat has a hairless, tabular body which looks wrinkled. As the name suggest, the hairless mole rat is a rodent. But this type of rat seems to live his life like a bee. The naked mole rat form what one would call a community. Rats will come together to form colonies. The colonies are led by the Top Rat. Like the bee, the top rat is also a female mole rat or you could call her the "Naked Mole Rat Queen." Sounds like the title for a good blockbuster! And just like the bee, only the queen mole rat is allowed to produce off springs.
Naked Mole Rat Ranks
Remember when previously i told you that the naked mole rat lives in communities? Well these community has hierarchy. Just like it is in the world of man, so it shall be in the mole rat world. There are what you could classify as worker mole rats, they get paid the minimum wages of course, has dreadful long working hours and gets no love at the end of the day. These worker mole rats are in charge of digging burrows for the entire clan. They basically design the mole rats living colony space. After digging and digging, while the Queen rat and her royal subjects sit and wait for the jobs to be completed, the worker moles will then have to go gather foods to feed their beloved queen and all other rats in that colony.
Long Live The Mole Rat Breeding Queen
The queens subjects simply tend to the queens business, making sure her crown fits, getting her ball dress ready, you know, things queens do. But aside from preparing for balls. The mole rats that attend to the queen will bring her shrubs and ensure that she is safely moved from one area to the next inside the colony. The Queens sole purpose in the rat colony is to breed more rats. She can have up to approximately 26 baby mole rats in one go. The Queen is also capable of producing that amount up to 5 times per year. In my calculations, that's a lot of baby rats to dish out. When all naked pups are birth, the queen attendants will take the babies and carry them to the area in the colony designed for the babies to nurse and clean up. Then after the queen as recuperated from giving birth to all those pups, she will go down to the nursery and then allow all the babies to feed.
Why Do Mole Rats Have Such Long Teeth?
Next time you go to sleep, you better make sure you have a garlic chain around your neck, or else the mole rat will suck on your....sorry guys, that's just an extract from a book i intend on writing called; Vampire Mole Rats - The Shrub Suckers!" Anyway, animals tend to be designed specifically to do specific task. The mole rat's huge exposed upper and lower incisors are needed because of manly two things:
- Large Underground Roots and Tubers
They need strong teeth to cut through these vegetation. Especially since it is not every-man for himself and everyone just comes and gather at a root and gnaw its full, but roots are cut down and taken in side the storage facility of the colony. Especially since the queen do not savage food for herself also. - They are Burrowers
Mole rats do not only rely on their tiny feet to dig away at soil, but their strong tooth are used also for digging through soil. Mole rats re rodents and rodents incisors always keeps growing, that is why they always keep nibbling. They gnaw a lot to keep the tooth from over growth.
Where Do Naked Mole rats Live?
Mole Rats are spread near and far. But these are the areas and conditions they prefer.
- High mountain planes or below sea level
- Loves loamy and Sandy Soil (Easy Burrowing)
- Most found in Sub-Saharan Africa
What Do Naked Mole Rats Eat?
Apart from a couple human eyeballs and fingers (Just Kidding). Naked mole rats will feast on Tuber and various roots. They may also devours small insects along the way. But one thing which will send up your gross meter is that this rat will also dine and wine on its own feces. One would call it a poop eater. The reason why mole rats will eat their food is because of they type of foods they eat and how their digestive system functions. They will at tough roots and tubers which provides nutrients fr the rat, but is not easily broken down in the digestive track. The mole rat will then have the need to poop. Then the poop filled with undigested nutrients is then eaten bay the rat to get out all that nutrient. As they say, "waste" not, want not.
Are Naked Mole Rats Blind?
No, the naked mole rat is not blind, they posses tiny eyes on each side of its little naked head. These beady eyes do capture some light, allowing the mole rat to see but not very clearly. But the eyes are not that useful when the animal spends most of its lifetime in darkness below, They rely mostly on the sense of smell and sound.
Apart from a couple human eyeballs and fingers (Just Kidding). Naked mole rats will feast on Tuber and various roots. They may also devours small insects along the way. But one thing which will send up your gross meter is that this rat will also dine and wine on its own feces. One would call it a poop eater. The reason why mole rats will eat their food is because of they type of foods they eat and how their digestive system functions. They will at tough roots and tubers which provides nutrients fr the rat, but is not easily broken down in the digestive track. The mole rat will then have the need to poop. Then the poop filled with undigested nutrients is then eaten bay the rat to get out all that nutrient. As they say, "waste" not, want not.
Are Naked Mole Rats Blind?
No, the naked mole rat is not blind, they posses tiny eyes on each side of its little naked head. These beady eyes do capture some light, allowing the mole rat to see but not very clearly. But the eyes are not that useful when the animal spends most of its lifetime in darkness below, They rely mostly on the sense of smell and sound.
Naked Mole Rat Tunneling
| Quick Facts You Must Know About Naked Mole Rats Life span: Lives up 40 years in zoos; unknown in the wild. Gestation Period 70 days Number of young at birth: 12 to 26 Age of maturity: 1 year Size: Body length - 3 to 4 inches (8 to 10 centimeters) Tail length: Up to 3 inches (8 centimeters) Weight: 1 to 1.8 ounces (30 to 50 grams) | Do Naked Mole Rats Carry Diseases? Well, there has been one case of confirmed cancer in the naked mole rat, but most likely that some scientist probably tampered with the rat and took it from it's natural habitat. Mole rats posses very strong immune systems and are very resistant to cancer development. There is no need to worry about diseases in the naked mole rat. |
Are Naked Mole Rats Aggressive?
No, naked mole rats will more likely smell you as the aggressor. They are gentle creatures by nature and rely shows aggression towards people. But despite of that, care must always be taken when handling any animal. If a animal is handled incorrectly, it may just trigger some type of self defense aggression.
Conclusion
Naked mole rats are pretty cool animals. They have a organized living structure and they recognize what team work really is as they come together to fulfill particular task. They also recognize the need for hierarchy and control. Control is only having one mole rat allowed to breed. This is a form of population control as if all females were allowed to breed, the colony simply could not suffice. That is a sign of a thinking animal.
No, naked mole rats will more likely smell you as the aggressor. They are gentle creatures by nature and rely shows aggression towards people. But despite of that, care must always be taken when handling any animal. If a animal is handled incorrectly, it may just trigger some type of self defense aggression.
Conclusion
Naked mole rats are pretty cool animals. They have a organized living structure and they recognize what team work really is as they come together to fulfill particular task. They also recognize the need for hierarchy and control. Control is only having one mole rat allowed to breed. This is a form of population control as if all females were allowed to breed, the colony simply could not suffice. That is a sign of a thinking animal.
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