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The rock badger is a rare little animal that resides in parts of Southern Africa and the extreme south western part of Asia. The South Africans refer to him as the rock ‘dassie’, a word which comes from the Dutch for badger.
The rock badger is a curious little creature that has features that are a mixture of other animals. It has the incisors of a rodent, the molars of a rhino, the vascular system of a whale and the feet of an elephant.
The rock badger makes his home in crags and crevices of rocky outcrops and cliffs. Such a home is ideal for him. As he is slow moving he is a natural target for predators. His inhospitable environment, however, ensures that enemies keep their distance. The home of the rock badger also provides ideal protection from wind and rain. For these reasons the badger spends most of his time in his rocky home. The only time he will venture forth is when he goes out looking for food.
The rock badger will feed twice a day. He eats a colossal amount of food. He will hone in on plants and vegetation and gobble it up with amazing speed. In less than an hour a day they take in a massive amount of nutritional greenery which is then processed by a digestive system that has been described as ‘unique in all the animal kingdom.’
One of the greatest threats to the badger comes from the black eagle. Circling high above the rocks he is able to make out the shapes of the badger basking on the rocks in colonies. But getting the little fellow into his stomach is no easy task for the bird. The rock badger has amazingly keen eyesight. He can detect movement up to a mile away. Even if the black eagle is up against the sun the badger will spot him. The eye of the rock badger is equipped with a special membrane which filters the rays of the sun. The badger can look directly at the sun with no adverse effects. Immediately the first badger sees his sky high enemy, he will let out a warning signal – a sharp bark. Immediately the rocks will be cleared as the badgers forsake their sunbathing time and disappear into the protection of their shelters. The black eagle has been outsmarted.
The badgers live together in communities. As well as affording protection from enemies as just outlined, this also gives protection to the animal from the cold. The animals will huddle together for warmth, sometimes even lying one on top of the other. They have been known to do so in extreme weather until they are three or four layers deep.
The feet of the rock badger give it the incredible ability to scale rocky formations that are almost perpendicular. The feet have thick, soft soles which the badger is able to form into friction pads. Their feet also perspire to provide extra traction.
The rock badger is easily tamed. The animal is constantly grooming himself and so is a clean living companion. The hind foot, in fact, has a claw especially designed for grooming. Amazingly, it is not even necessary to toilet train your pet rock badger. In the wild, the rock badger community will set aside a designated spot for use by the entire colony. In her book Born Free, author Joy Adamson wrote about the peculiar toiletry habits of her pet rock badger: “ At home Pati invariably perched herself on the rim of the lavatory seat, and this situation presented a comical sight. On safari where no such refinements were provided for her, she was completely bewildered, so we had to eventually to rig up a small lavatory for her.”
The rock badger, then, is a unique, industrious and amazing little creature with many features that allow him to live a full life in his rocky, inhospitable habitat. He is one more evidence of the wonder of the world we live in.
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