Brants’s Whistling Rat, Parotomys brantsii

I got the following information in my Stuarts’ Field Guide to Mammals of Southern Africa. By Chris & Mathilde Stuart. The photos was taken in the Goegap Nature Reserve just outside of Springbok.

Brants’s Whistling Rats are stockily built, with tails shorter than the head-and-body length. Body colour is very variable and ranges from pale reddish-yellow with white underparts to a brownish or greyish yellow with grey underparts. The tail may be similar in colour to the upperparts or dark above and pale below.

Brants’s Whistling Rats can be observed in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and Goegap Nature Reserve, South Africa. They occur mainly in areas receiving less than 300mm of rain per annum.

Brants’s Whistling Rats commonly live in colonies, but they do not share burrows; may live in Solitary. Large Brant’s colonies stand out on the landscape because they are generally stripped of most vegetation. When alarmed they stand on their hind legs, in close proximity to the burrow.

They occasionally feed at the food site, but more commonly they bite off pieces of vegetation and carry them back to eat at the burrow entrance. When feeding, they stand on the hind legs, using the front feet to hold and manipulate the food.

They are vegetarian, eating the leaves of succulents and other green plant food, as well as seeds and flowers.

Brants’s Whistling Rats gives birth to 1-4 young, mainly during late summer and gestation last up to 38 days. Their lifespan in the wild is around 2 years.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read my post. I hope you also learned something new today.

Have a fabulous day. Till next time, please stay safe and healthy.

Coreen