Hottentot golden mole
The Hottentot golden mole is a small mammal native to southern Africa, typically found in wetter mountainous areas. These moles range from 4.5 to 6 inches in length and weigh up to 84 grams, featuring dark brown or reddish-brown fur on top and golden fur underneath. They are well-adapted to their burrowing lifestyle, using their large front paws and sharp claws to dig tunnels just below the surface. Hottentot golden moles are carnivorous, primarily feeding on insects, earthworms, and other small invertebrates, relying on their keen sense of touch and smell to locate food, as they have limited eyesight.
These moles lead solitary lives and are territorial, often aggressively defending their burrows from intruders. Their burrows can be extensive, measuring up to three feet deep and extending up to 800 feet in length, with their digging influenced by rainfall. When it comes to mating, males attract females through chirping sounds and specific behaviors, and females can give birth to one to three young at any time of the year. While they face natural predators, Hottentot golden moles are not currently considered threatened. Their unique adaptations and ecological role make them an interesting subject of study in the context of biodiversity in southern Africa.
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Hottentot golden mole
Hottentot golden moles can be found throughout southern Africa. Hottentot golden moles live in the wetter areas of the mountains and can survive temperatures of 32 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit (0 to 32 degrees Celsius).
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Afrosoricida
Family: Chrysochloridae
Genus: Amblysomus
Species: Hottentotus
Hottentot golden moles range in size from 4 1/2 to six inches (11 1/2 to 15 centimeters) and only weigh a few ounces (up to 84 grams). Their fur may be either dark brown or reddish brown on top, but their underside is golden in color. They have special fur which allows them to live in extreme conditions.
Like their other mole cousins, Hottentot golden moles spend almost all of their life burrowing just below the surface of the ground, leaving small ridges of soil behind them. The moles are able to dig very well because they have large front paws with sharp claws. As they dig, they move and pack the soil with their snouts, heads, shoulders, backs, and rear paws. While they burrow, they are foraging (looking for food). Hottentot golden moles are carnivores, or animals that eat meat. They eat insects and their larvae, earthworms, crickets, slugs, snails, and spiders. Since they cannot see very well, the moles depend on their sense of touch to find food. They eat right away in their burrows any food they find, instead of storing it. Sometimes they forage above ground, look for new burrows, or look for a mate. When they are not underground, they "waddle." Also, they are able to use their sense of smell more when they are not underground.
Burrows are usually 1 1/2 to two inches (3 1/2 to five centimeters) in diameter with larger chambers off to the side of the main tunnels. They are around three feet (one meter) deep and may extend for 800 feet (240 meters). Rainfall determines how deep and how long the golden moles dig their burrows. If rain or something else damages their tunnels, the moles are able to repair them very easily because they have a very good sense of where they are and what the tunnels are like.
Hottentot golden moles may burrow an average 41 feet (12 meters) in 24 hours. In summer when there is plenty of food, Hottentots burrow more and may overlap the territory of other moles. They are territorial most of the time and will aggressively defend their home territory. If another mole leaves its burrow, a neighboring Hottentot golden mole will quickly move in and take over. Moles are able to detect if another mole lives in a burrow by smelling the tunnel walls. Hottentot golden moles are solitary (they live by themselves). Even though they do not like other moles in their burrows, they will sometimes share their tunnels with herbivorous (plant-eating) mole-rats or ice-rats.
While they are foraging for food, Hottentot golden moles must be alert for those animals which like to eat them. Snakes, owls, birds, otters, genets, mongooses, and jackals all eat Hottentot golden moles. The moles are able to hear very well and to sense vibrations in the ground when another animal is nearby. Moles quickly run to their burrows when they sense a vibration. Inside their burrows they hide in bolt holes (a safe room in the burrow).
When a male Hottentot golden mole is ready to mate it begins chirruping a lot while it bobs its head and stamps its feet. This behavior attracts a female. She responds by making a grasshopper-like rasping sound and squeals a lot. The moles may mate at almost anytime during the year, although prefer to mate after the rainy season when food is plentiful. The female also may become pregnant and give birth at any time. She will usually give birth to one to three young. Each newborn mole is about two inches (five centimeters) long and weighs less than one ounce (less than 28 grams). Moles do not have fur when they are born. When they are larger and weigh between one and 1 1/2 ounces (28 and 42 grams), they leave the nest and find their own burrows.
Hottentot golden moles live around one year. They are not a threatened species.
Bibliography
“Chrysochloridae - Golden Moles - Wildlife Journal Junior.” New Hampshire PBS, 2023, nhpbs.org/wild/chrysochloridae.asp. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.
Meservey, Caitlin. “ADW: Amblysomus Hottentotus: Information.” Animal Diversity Web, 2006, animaldiversity.org/accounts/Amblysomus‗hottentotus/#reproduction. Accessed 14 Apr. 2024.