Here is a Juliana’s golden-mole. Aren’t they cute?

Today I want to write about a very cute animal, the Juliana’s golden-mole.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These very unique animals are only about 10 cm (4 inches) long.
2. Despite living their entire lives underground, they aren’t very strong diggers and have to live in very sandy soil.  Their eyes are covered in skin, which makes them blind and they have a leathery nose that helps them when they are burrowing.
3. They feed on insects, worms and snails that they find as they burrow just below the surface, leaving small ridges in the ground as they go.
4. Despite their name and appearance, they aren’t really moles, but are more closely related to elephants and manatees.
5. Juliana’s golden-moles are only found in three locations in South Africa, which makes them vulnerable to extinction if something dramatic happened to their habitat.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Juliana’s golden-moles?