Hi all
I was at a house party within the estate about two weeks ago. Our hosts were talking about an elephant-shrew, and being typical blond, I had no glue what they were talking about. After my hosts describe it as a mouse like creature with a nose like an elephant, I was actually quite prepared to believe that they were pulling my leg. My nosy streak made me Google this little creature and I came across interesting facts that I would like to share with you all.
The creature is called a Rock elephant-shrew and its biological name is Elephantulus Myurus. Length wise (including tail) it get up to 26cm and weigh up to 60g. The colour of the body is buff-grey / white and the eyes are ringed with white. At the end of the snout are sensitive nostrils, and the senses of smell, hearing and sight are all acute. Faced with this battery of equipment the elephant-shrew's insect prey hasn't a hope - which is just as well for a mammal with an extremely high metabolic rate: they feed frenetically and sleep intermittently throughout the day. From the shady cover of a rock of shrub the rock elephant-shrew can dart out like a flash of lightning to pounce on its victim. Normally they travel on all fours, but at speed they leap on their hind legs. Smaller birds of prey are amongst elephant-shrew's enemies. Sitting motionless on a shaded rock, the animal is well camouflaged and may be mistaken for a stone - its only giveaway being a twitching of the snout and ears. Their natural lifespan is only about 13 months, but can reach up to 19 months. The funniest of all is the Afrikaans name being "Klipklaasneus".
Regards
Rynette
