Rodent Spotlight: Gundi

I recently discovered a new addition to my "rodentia obscuria" collection. Have you ever heard of a rodent called the gundi? The gundi is a tubby African rodent with unusually rounded ears. They don't really live in a lot of places which may account for their obscure nature. I still found them interesting.

They live in some very hot environments, and because of this, they have to constantly worry about their water intake. Oddly enough, they actually never drink at all. That's right! If you were to provide a thirsty gundi with a cup of water, he would put up his nose to you. Why? Because it was in a cup! To a gundi, a cup is a form of insult, for their water must be presented in a far more appetizing manner. In this case, in the form of food.

Gundis get all of their water from plant life, and there is no exception to the rule. Talk about picky! The rodent is pretty much forced to find an area teaming with plants in order to make a living. You know what they say: location, location, location!

Another thing that I found gundis to be quite the professional at... is lounging. Oh! Gundis are marvelous loungers! They always pick the perfect spot and just let their fat rolls plop down wherever they may. I am not quite sure how this tradition got started, but my theory is that since their little bodies are responsible for carrying all that excess water, it must sometimes get unbearably heavy. One day, an exhausted gundi found out that if he stopped walking and let gravity take over, it made for good relief. But like everything, once one person find something nice, everyone else had to get in on it too.

As far as I could tell, there have been no appearances of the gundi in fiction. I was only able to find one fan drawing of them, and it wasn't even very well-drawn. The closest that I could figure would be a lazy desert people who are not very agreeable. They keep everything close-nit and refuse social contact with people outside of themselves. Why would they want to mingle with a "cup-drinker" anyways? Really... with picky rodents like this, there is little you can do to help them. Might as well leave them to their little section of the desert.

Thank you for reading my blog. If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tooie@tooiekangaro.com. Flop.