Overheard at the National Zoo...

"Wow, look at all of those baby hamsters!" -- an adult female in front of the naked mole rat colony

I overhear a lot of interesting conversations when I'm at the zoo, but this is the latest ridiculous comment I heard over the weekend. Does this lady think that we invest time into breeding HAMSTERS??? What does she think we did with all of the adult hamsters? All it takes is a quick glance at the signs posted next to each exhibit and you learn a lot about the most important distinguishing facts of an animal. Yet time and time again I hear parents making things up to tell their children or men and women trying to impress their dates with their knowledge about animals. So sad. Just read the signs people! Or better yet, don't. I'll just continue to blog about you.

In case you don't know what a naked mole rat is (and I'll be honest, I had never seen one before I started volunteering at the zoo), I'll give you a little information so you can impress your friends the next time you head to the zoo. Naked mole rats are naked because they spend their lives under the ground. That's also why their eyes are not fully developed; there's nothing to see in the dark! They live in a system of tunnels in sub-Saharan Africa. Their closest relatives are not rats, but porcupines and chinchillas. They have a strict social hierarchy much like bees in that they have one breeding queen, a few breeding males, and the rest of the animals are workers.